After the Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos
by CTG91295
Summary: The Primarch is dead, the Fal'Cies are gone, and Cocoon is crystalized. A new era has begun, and the Ex-l'cies are the leaders of the new world.
1. A New Era

After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos

Set after Final Fantasy XIII, ignores Final Fantasy XIII-2 canon. No pairings except Snow x Serah. Special cameos.

**Lightning's POV**

Sazh then patted us on our shoulders to get our attention. "Come on, kids. Let's see what we can do to help out." He said, looking up at his six year old son that he had perched on his shoulders. Dajh nodded, digging his fingers into Sazh's afro, the chocobo tweeting as she flew around the father and son.

Snow grabbed a hold of Serah's hand, leading the way towards what was probably left of Cocoon's population.

"Know what that is, Dajh?" Sazh asked his son, pointing upward at the crystalized sphere, "that's our home. Cocoon. Must be your first time seeing it from the outside, huh?"

"Yeah." Dajh replied. He then suddenly hugged the afro in front of him, his own childlike way of showing how grateful he is to see his father again.

"It reminded me of you." Snow was talking to Serah, the two holding each other's hands, as to be expected. "Why I had to go on," he continued playing with a lock of her hair, and she giggled in return.

I felt a whirlwind of emotions. Happiness was there, and relief as well. But deep within me I knew that this new life was not going to be easy. That there were numerous obstacles that I can't even imagine that we would all have to overcome as time progresses.

Vanille and Fang were gone. And the world hung in silence. Our fight had just ended. But I knew better then to relax.

"Light?" Hope's voice broke through my thoughts. "You alright?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. I just...it's over yes. But we can't relax just yet. We shouldn't." What was I even saying?

I heard the ground crunch under Hope's sneakers as he reapproached me, and I realized that I was looking downward because Hope had to kneel over in order to look me in the eye. "You're thinking too hard." He said.

I stood back up straight.

"Fang and Vanille sacrificed their lives to save us all. Now your sister is alive and well. And so is Dajh."

Something quickly flashed through Hope's eyes, and I just as quickly caught it. "Your worried about your dad." I stated.

Hope bit his lip, looking past me. I patted the top of his head. "It's okay, Hope." I said, "I'm sure he's fine."

He only nodded before going off on his own, and I followed behind him. That's when I noticed everybody else waiting for us.

When we finally arrived to where the survivors ended up, I had forgotten that half of them were PSICOM. They immedietly recognized us. "Those are the L'Cie!" One of them shouted, riling up civilians who (as expected) blamed us for Cocoon's Fall. We drew our weapons when they aimed our guns. Sazh set down his son and he scurried behind Snow's large frame with Serah.

Before anyone can put the first move in, a few airships flew to Gran Pulse from Cocoon and it made me momentarily curious as to where they got the power, assuming all of Cocoon's resources have vanished. The airship landed near us and the other surivivors. None of us relinquished our weapons yet, not even when the doors opened and another soldier walked out. He took off his helmet revealing...

"Rygdea?" Snow asked astonished.

"I thought you became a cieth with the rest of your men?" I asked.

Rygdea ignored us as his narrowed eyes landed on PSICOM's gun. "Uh-uh. No. Put those things away. What the hell are you thinking?"

"These heathens," the PSICOM officer waved his gun stupidly toward us, "are responsible for the loss of our home. Now we are doomed here on Pulse."

"Calm your tits!" Rygdea said, "these 'heathens' actually saved your asses. If it weren't for them you would be these ugly ass cieth by now. Who is your commanding officer?"

"General Yaag Rosch, sir!"

"Well guess what...tell them, Farron." What?

I looked at Rygdea's expectant face as well as the other survivors including my fellow ex L'Cie."He died in action." I stated outright.

Sazh winced at my bluntness.

"You were probably the ones who killed him!"

"Actually," Snow jumped in before I made things even worse. "he died aiding us in completing our Focus."

A pause settled amongst everyone as they took in the information. It even gave me time to think about what has happened. Cocoon is practically dead since the Fal'Cie are no longer. It's being held up by our Gran Pulsian natives that we may never see again. Not even half of Cocoon's population may have survived. And now we have to find a new way to live on Gran Pulse. Things will never truly go back to normal. At least not like how life was before all this L'Cie mumbo jumbo.

Then more people started climbing out of the airship Rygdea had arrived in. And among those people were who I recognized as Bartholomew Estheim, his dress shirt rumpled, his hair uncombed and matted, and a beard having grown out. Hope flew past me at the sight of his dad and pulled him into a family embrace. I was glad to see Mr. Estheim alive as well, Hope had already lost his mother.

Among the other survivors, family's reunited, friends found each other, lovers passionately kissed each other having thought they lost each other forever.

This was it. A new era has been born. And we are the one responsible. And Fang and Vanille were the ones to sacrifice, so we could live to see the new day. Be reunited with our loved ones, our family. And to guide the remaining civilians.

"So what do we do now?" Sazh had asked.

"I reckon they're more survivors back on Cocoon. This here airship was runnin' out of juice so I just moseyed on out with the crew I got."

Suddenly two teenagers who looked like identical twins, one boy and one girl, approached us, "You have to go back," the boy said, "our eldest brother was one of PSICOM."

A mother and her son then chimed in, "my husband was in Bodhum!"

"I want my mommy!" Some other little boy around Dajh's age hollered.

"We would have to go back anyway," Bartholomew stated, trying to make himself looked presentable. "I'm sure we still have a lot of supplies back there. Without food and medicine for the sick we wouldn't survive."

"It's no use." A man with dark hair muttered absolutely miserable. "Even if we got the whole Unicorn Mart where would we live? What would we wear?"

"What about the monsters!" A woman who I assumed was the man's wife cried clinging onto his arm.

All at once the survivors including the PSICOM soldiers erupted into hysteria. We all looked at each other, and I noticed Serah's terrified grip on the front of Snow's coat. I looked to Sazh, pointing at his gun that was still in his hand. He understood my unspoken message and lifted his gun in the air.

Snow, Hope, Dajh, Bartholomew, Rygdea, and I covered our ears while Sazh used his other hand and plugged his left ear before shooting up into the sky. The sound startling the survivors into silence.

"Everyone!" I shouted, "Calm down. Nothing will change if you all go insane." The people looked up at me with great disdain, but I didn't care.

Bartholomew stepped in. "Please relax. We are going to discuss our next move. Until then please remain calm."

Upon hearing Mr. Estheim's charisimatic speech, the hysteria seemed to have slowly faded. "Hope," Bartholomew addressed his son, "we have some spare first aid in the airship. Please tend to the wounded." Hope nodded once and got straight to work. Mr. Estheim's eyes then landed on Serah who was still clutching Snow, having been startled from the gunshot. "Miss, we also have some leftover food. I need you to do a head count and then hand out rations." Serah looked perplexed for a moment, but was about to follow Hope wordlessly.

"Hang on a moment," Sazh nudged his son over to her slightly, who happily clasped her hand. "You don't mind having Dajh with you, do you?"

"Of course not." Serah answered quietly, leaving with Dajh who was trotting by her side.

"Now," Bartholomew muttered, adjusting his glasses. "Let us discuss our objective."

Rygdea nodded once then lead us a ways from the survivors, and I realized there were hundreds of people. And we were responsible for every one of them. Some yards to the right were at least a hundred more that were already dead. As Psicom officers stood around them unsure of what to do with them.

"We are responsible for so many people." Snow stated watching the movement.

"This may sound cruel," Rygdea began, "but even with all the medicial suppplies that's in that crystal ball of a planet and even if we rescued more of 'em. We'd proably lose at least fifty people."

"There's like only three hundred out of...what, a billion?" Snow asked.

"There were three billion people that populated Cocoon." Bartholomew answered making Snow's eyes widen. "Four hundred out of three billion people were thrown out of Cocoon. A hundred died on impact. It was miracle even this many survived."

"Here's what I propose we do." Rygdea began, "we'll try and see if we have any availiable techies to figure out these airships. Once they're working, we'll gather able fighters and scouters to come with us to Cocoon. We'll have two teams so we can look for more survivors and gather as much supplies as we can carry outta there."

"Sounds good." I stated.

"For now." Sazh began, "we gotta move everybody to the closest source of water."

"I remember there being a river that way." Snow said pointing west.

"Let's mosey on." Rygdea said already walking back toward the survivors. "Excuse me!" He called out to the civilians who immedietly stopped their worried chatter. "May I have your attention please, everyone. I'm gonna need some volunteers to help get some power into these airships."

Nobody volunteered at first, but soon about twenty people stood up walking towards Rygdea. "We're gonna stay here and work while the rest of you follow Mr. Estheim west." Once again a suffocating silence filled the air, and a woman coughed. He pointed towards us. "They say that a river runs there."

At the implication that water was there everybody began to gather their injured loved ones and together everyone moved west. I looked for Serah, finding her sitting while Dajh was passing out rations. He was the one that looked up first. "Where are we going?" He asked.

It was funny how calm this six year old was. Perhaps he wasn't realizing how dire the situation was. Maybe it was for the best. "Yeah," I said awkwardly, not knowing how to talk to a child. "We're just moving closer to a river so we won't be thirsty. You want me to take you to your dad."

"I'm not done handing out rashings." He said. I must of looked confused because he proceeded to hold up one of the boxes in his hand showing he had food with him.

"Oh, you mean _rations_." This kid didn't even know how to say rations and he's trying to feed three hundred hungry, cranky, and deeply upset civilians. And they are all going to be walking for a lengthy period of time.

Too dangerous. "Why don't we wait till we stop then I get some people to help you." I said.

"Okay." He handed me the box and followed the chocobo towards Sazh. When I turned back around Serah had already been collected by Snow.

I blew my breath at Snow already hogging my baby sister and unthinkingly handed the rations to the set of twins earliar who looked at me confused, but I was already walking past them. My eyes unconciously looked through the crowds for Hope and found the teenager carrying a boy much younger then him on his back.

A little girl, who I assumed was the boy's sister was saying something to Hope looking a bit worried. Then the boy proceeded the vomit over Hope's shoulder and down his black shirt. I was going to swoop in and help Hope but thought better at it when I saw Hope relinquish his neckerchief to dab at the boy's mouth, smiling gentlly up at him in reassurance.

While I was looking forward I noticed a young woman who appeared to be about in her early thirties with blonde hair and wearing a red sleeveless floral dress. She was breathing heavily.

"She looks dehydrated." A man with his own hands full said to me as he passed by.

I quickly approached the woman, not knowing what came over me. I knelt down close when I heard her struggle to speak. "Water." she groaned, her eyes fluttering and rolling back ino her head.

I picked her up in my arms and followed the crowd.

It was an hour walk, and in that time the sun was beginning to set. But the river was gloriously large like I remembered. When we saw it while we were L'Cie, Snow, Hope, and Sazh stripped down into their underwear and dove in. I had discarded my waistcoat and dared to unzip my turtleneck halfway until Fang and Vanille chided me that I wanted to join them.

Not caring that three males were in just boxers I unzipped the rest of my turtleneck letting it fall (I think Vanille had caught it before it reach the ground) and shimmied out of my skirt until I was standing in only a black sports bra and battle shorts and joined the rest.

Fang and Vanille had joined in shortly after in their underwear.

I remembered it was one of the first times I had fun in a really long time.

The woman I had been carrying guzzled down the river's water, sighing as she submerged the rest of her body in.

I felt better being in the water after standing in the scalding heat. But it had the same "comfort" as shuffling at a community swimming pool outside of Bodhum.

"I'm Terra by the way," the woman I saved said looking much better, "Terra Branford."

"Lightning Farron." I answered feeling odd talking to a normal person after being a fugitive all this time.

"Thank you again for saving me. I don't know what would have happened to me otherwise."

I only nodded. Silently exiting the river. I was surprised to find Serah sitting outside the water, dabbing her face, neck, and arms with that looked like a wet scarf.

Snow's blue scarf. Serah's eyes were far off and I followed her line of vision to the river where he was playing some sort of pool game with Dajh on his shoulders. "Not going to join them?" I asked her, sitting next to her.

"It doesn't feel right to play at a time like this." She said honestly, wrapping the cold and wet scarf around her neck and dabbing her face with it. I then saw Serah had an extra hairband around her wrist and I was reminded how annoyingly long my hair grew out over the time I spent running from PICOM and our fate. Serah saw me staring at her wrist and looked me questioningly before I spoke again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

She remained silent and solemn. "Not really." She said pulling the hairband from around her wrist and handed it to me as she got up walking toward where Bartholomew was.

I felt like she was shutting me out all of a sudden. I thought we were okay. But I guess we still have things to work out. I tied up my grown out hair into a sloppy ponytail.

While the people who could were in the river, a lot of people were laid out basking in the setting sun as what I assumed were doctors and nurses tending to them. Among one of the tenders were Hope.

I approached him as he carefully wrapped a bandage around who I recognized was one of the guys protesting earliar. He was still scowling and muttered something to his doting wife that made Hope turn around. "Hey Light." He greeted me.

"Have you gone to the river yet?" I asked him, noticing him sweating bullets and drenching his shirt that was smeared and stained with vomit.

"He's kind of busy." The aggravated man spat.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Who are you?"

"Squall." His wife groaned, smacking him upside the head, his brown hair swooshing to one side. "You're being rude. Please ignore him. He can be kind of a dick."

"Pfft." Squall snorted, rolling his eyes, "whatever." He then proceeded to cross his arms much like how a moody teenager would.

"I'm Rinoa." The woman greeted. "This is my husband, Squall."

I drifted off a bit from the woman's introduction and realized the large bandaging in-between the man's eyes. "What happened to your face?" I asked.

His eyes narrowed dangerously while Rinoa laughed and Hope facepalmed. "It got cut up when he got trampled." Rinoa explained, and this time it was Squall who smacked her hair, making her dark locks sway back and forth from the impact. She looked back at him slightly amused.

"I think I can take it from here." Squall muttered getting up and walking away. Rinoa shrugged, looking apologetic before scurrying after her husband.

I looked back over to my side to find Hope having already returned to that same kid that threw up on his shirt. "How are you feeling?" Hope asked the boy.

"Kinda dizzy." The kid said, rubbing his forhead.

"The _heat_ is making him dizzy." his little sister added, lovingly stroking his hair like a mother would. "Can we have shade?"

"I would take him to the airships," I tried to explain to the children, "but he needs to be near the water in case he gets dehydrated."

The little six year old was about to protest until her sick older brother held her hand, "I'll be fine, Marlene," the sick child said forcing himself into a sitting position and covering his eyes from the blazing sun. "Come on, let's get closer so I can have some."

The sister continued to not say anything, but still helped the boy towards the water. "You should swim as well." I tried again with Hope.

He looked up at me, his expression guarded. "I want to, but there are people who-"

"If you get heatstroke," I interrupted, "then you'll be one of those people laying in the blazing heat. Then who would help them?"

Hope looked behind me and I noticed his father standing behind me. Crap. "Is everything alright?" Bartholomew asked staring right at me.

"Hey dad," Hope said walking past me and grabbing a hold of his dad's arm. "let's go take a dip and cool off." Bartholomew continued to glower at me for yelling at his son, even while he began rolling his sleeves up. Hope had to push him towards the water before Bartholomew broke eye contact.

Later that night, everybody was out of the river. The blazing sun had finally set and brought in a cool night's breeze that was very much needed. It reminded me of our L'Cie adventures. The six of us would sit around a fire while Vanille cooked and Fang told us all about Gran Pulse and Oerba.

I knew even at the time how significant those tranquil moments were. The smell of burning behemoth meat, the sound of Fang's low and thick voice. Later in the night when everyone's asleep and everybody's snores filled the air. How Sazh's chocobo would flutter by my head to check up on me. How Hope would always end up curled up next to me throughout the night.

Now everybody was exhausted and with their families. Sazh had his son curled up by his heart, his arms wrapped securely around him, never letting go. Bartholomew laid flat on his back with his arm over his eyes, while Hope had his back facing him, curled up into a ball.

My eyes landed on Serah who sat alone, Snow's monster of a trenchcoat wrapped around her like a cozy blanket. She wrinkled her nose at what I believed was the stench from that coat. I had even worn it at some point. It then occured to me how quick Snow was willing to offer up his coat when he saw somebody needed it.

He had let Vanille wear it for a little while in Lake Bresha until we seperated, Fang wore it when us three had an accident and split off from the rest and she was worried sick that she had lost Vanille again. Hope during a particularly cold night in Gran Pulse when he had a nightmare. Snow kinda just draped it over his little body as he slept. He made me wear it when I had caught one of the deadly diseases that were on this godforsaken planet.

Serah tried her best to inch the coat away from her nose. "Hey," I said kneeling down next to her again.

"Hi." She whispered looking even more unhappy as the hours passed.

"Where's Snow?" I asked.

She shrugged. "He didn't say." She said pulling her legs up.

"Did you eat?" I asked.

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat something."

"I'm fine, Claire."

"Is there something on your mind?" I persisted.

She looked up at me, her icy blue eyes twinkling, but still sad. "Our home is gone, Claire." She looked back into the fire. "What are we supposed to do now? How are me and Snow going to get married. Have babies? Where are we going to live?"

"First things first," I tried to tell her, pulling her into my arms and stroking her long curly hair. "We survive."

"How long will that take?" She asked. "What if none of us make it?"

"Serah, all of us worked our asses off to save you and Dajh." I sat her back up and looked her in the eyes, "I swear to you. I won't let anything take you away."

"Promise?" Serah asked me, and I was suddenly reminded of that little girl from my childhood.

"Promise." I said pulling her back into another hug. "We'll figure this out. Once we find a home, the first thing we do is give you the wedding of your dreams."

"Thank you. That makes me happy."

Our sisterly moment was interupted by the sound of loud footsteps. "Hey ladies." Snow greeted. "Ready for bed?"

Taking that as a hint to leave I stood back up. "Good night, then."

"Night, Sis." Snow said, pulling Serah into his arms almost posessively.

I walked away in search of a spot to sleep, and it was during this that I realized how I ended up being the odd one out. Not much has changed it seemed.

I noticed a nearby boulder nearby and decided that it seemed comfortable enough to lean against. I slid down into a sitting positition and stared up into the starry night sky attempting to sleep when I heard the soft crunching of light footsteps on grass.

It was the woman I saved earliar, Terra. "Hello Lightning," she greeted with a gentle smile, "do you mind if I sleep next to you, there's not much room anywhere else."

Usually I would turn away strangers, but I could tell she usually never asked these questions to just anyone, and I did save her from dehydration.

Sort of.

It's usually common for someone to feel safer around a savior, right? Right. I patted the empty spot next to me, even scooting over to make room. Not that she needed that much room since she was rather petite, almost like Serah.

I wasn't able to sleep soundly yet, since she didn't even look like she was going to close her eyes anytime soon. Instead she just stared out with a far off expression at the crystal pillar that is now holding up our home. "Are you a GC?" She asked, looking over me, "I recognized the uniform."

"I was." She continued staring at me, not at all wavering in intimidation. It was a nice change. So I elaborated a bit about myself just then. "Though I quit over three weeks ago to join the Purge."

She blinked a couple of times like she couldn't understand what I had even meant. "You mean you joined that Purge by choice?" She asked, puzzled.

"My sister was a L'Cie." I explained, and she then looked like she understood. "The Fal'Cie had her captive. I thought that if I was on the train, I could find some way to free her, even from her fate."

"And you did." Terra said, "she's safe now, no?"

"I didn't think it was going to be like this back then. But yet, she's alive now. Two other L'Cie sacrificed their lives to keep Cocoon up like that." I nodded my head toward the pillar that Terra's eyes had already gazed over. "Perhaps they're in there."

"Perhaps." Terra responded, "I'm sure they are happy your sister is safe too."

They were. Fang and Vanille were proabably watching over us now. "So what's your story?" I asked my new companion.

"I'm afraid I'm not that interesting." She said, and I noticed her cheeks tinge pink when I asked. When I didn't respond, she took note that I was not going to just let her not talk about her past after I just admitted a small part of mine. "I'm a kindergarten teacher." She said. "From Eden. Well, I wasn't in Eden at the time," she gestured around her slightly amused. "this happened.

"Where were you then?" I asked.

"Nautilus." She said. "My bestfriend, Celes was getting married to my other bestfriend Locke. That was yesterday. Today I was on my way home when I heard the commotion in Eden. About L'Cie wreaking havoc in the city." She laughed a bit ironically. "Who would of thought I would be saved by one of the people responsible for me not going home."

"I'm sorry." I automatically apologized. I would have been very surprised if not everybody hated us for technically destroying their home. But Terra just smiled again, and I noticed in her eyes that she was holding something back. Tears? Physically, probably yes.

But the way she was looking at me like that, with a fake smile. At first I thought she was holding back the anger at me, but something in that tight curve of her lips told me that she was not telling me was the whole story.

Not that I needed to pry.

"I don't think it's your fault." She said, reaching for my hands, "not really. Oh, wait, that sounds like I'm blaming you still." She paused for a moment, biting her lip and staring down at our hands. She tried again, "it was most likely for the better. Especially considering my situtation. I..." She fought for words, flipping my hand over and analyzing my glove. "I'll tell you this. The one thing I regret about not having been home before we came here, is seeing my students." Terra looked up at me, and her eyes were clear from the clouded emotions she was struggling with earliar. "As for everything else...my life was pretty complicated. Maybe...this is my chance to start over. For all of us to start over."

She pulled away and suddenly curled in within herself, ending our conversation. "Good night, Lightning."


	2. Adamantoises, Succubuses, & Ice Flans

After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos

Set after Final Fantasy XIII, ignores Final Fantasy XIII-2 canon. No pairings except Snow x Serah.

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: Just a quick note that instead of creating a buttload of OCs that nobody will really care about for the survivors, I just placed some past Final Fantasy characters in the "slots" that I need. Their stories are greatly changed to reflect the events in the XIII Universe, but will still greatly reflect their original backgrounds in some form.**

My sleep was so rudely and obnoxiously interupted by the sound of an ugly horn, that sliced through the morning silence. Large gusts of wind overcame me and I stood up abruptly, drawing my gunblade in case of danger.

I heard Terra plop where I was and I realized she had her head against my shoulder while we were asleep. Whether she did that unconciously I wouldn't know but that wasn't the issue at hand here.

Everybody erupted from the intrusion in the ungodly hours in the morning (or what felt like ungodly hours) for the sun hadn't even risen yet. Children threw tantrums, men plugged their ears, and women were complaining.

That's when we saw the airships flying and landing right in front of us. Rygdea exiting one of the two airships with a cocky grin and holding up a button that activated the horn once more. "Good morning Cocoonians! Gran Pulse says 'hello'!"

"We are so glad you got it fixed." Sazh said rubbing his ear, "but couldn't you have made a quieter entrance, it's the first night."

A few people laughed a little at the understatement. This wasn't the only night we have on Gran Pulse. This is our life now, we gotta get used to it.

"I would let you sleeping beauties get some extra hours," Rygdea continued, "but we got a mission."

"What missions?" Serah asked worried.

"We're going to Cocoon to get supplies and rescue more people. So let's have a well balanced breakfast and volunteers front and center. Everybody else that matters, we'll talk inside."

Snow, Sazh, Bartholomew, and I followed Rygdea inside the airship. Dajh went off to play with some of the boys while one of their mothers watched them. Serah began conversing with one of the surviving wives while Hope returned to tending the wounded. "So," Rygdea said as we gathered around the Bridge. "Who wants to stay behind and who's comin'?"

"My son and I have to stay behind." Bartholomew said with a straight face, adjusting his glasses. "I need to organize and Hope would probably be needed for the sick and wounded."

Even though we no longer have our L'Cie powers, I would always consider Hope our medic. With time he can learn to handle potions and other liquids for different ailments. He already showed his small knowlege before he learned the esuna spell. And I trust that we would probably need to bring him.

"Actually," I said, "I think we would have to bring Hope with us."

"What?" I was ready for Bartholomew to disagree, for his son's safety. "I know he was useful as a L'Cie-"

"He doesn't need his powers."

"The boy can't fight. Not without them." He tried to reason, his eyes pleading.

"I understand you are his father. You have every right to want to keep him near you at all costs." _I feel the same way about Serah. _"But this will be good for him."

Slam! Bartholomew's fist landed hard in front of the holographic screen in front of the seat he was occupying. "And who are you to say what's right for my son." he said in a low voice, his eyes peering dangerously over his glasses at me. "He is only a child."

Snow (thank goodness) saved me from Bartholomew's menacing glare, "He's also a fighter. He helped us take on Orphan, the baddest Fal'Cie that we fought. And worse like our Primarch who turned out to be a Fal'Cie. Look, sir, he may not be as strong as he was when he was a L'cie, but I guarentee you he is much stronger then he was before he was a L'Cie in the first place. He's grown."

The airship fell into an uncomfortable silence, I almost felt suffocated in my turtleneck. "He comes." Rygdea said in a serious tone.

Bartholomew blew his breath in a deep defeated sigh. "Fine. But if anything happenes to my only son...I am holding you four responsible."

We all nodded in understanding, and I casted a glance at Snow. I never thought I'd see the day where Snow and I would see eye to eye. Ever since our conversation in PalumPolum, I've been seeing Snow as less and idiot and more of a-

"And Serah can come too!"

**Nevermind.**

"Absolutely not!" I argued.

"Oh?" Bartholomew said, his eyebrow raised.

This was a totally different situation. I love my baby sister...

...but she just cannot fight. She's not even athletic. During childhood I was the tomboy who would race the other boys, and play ball, and...well...fight them. Serah was definitely the girlier one. Not that girly girls can't be athletic. But it was just...not her thing.

I even remember while she was in middle school and highschool she would make up some sort of excuse to skip PE class. As for fighting. Serah is a very nonviolent person. Even if she was fighting for others, I can never see her hold a gun. In fact, she is terrified of guns. That was why she never came with dad to the Guardian Corps station or go into his office (where he kept gun models).

My point was, "Serah doesn't even know how to use a weapon."

"Nobody here does." Sazh tried to reassure me, "I can teach her to use a gun."

"How about," Rygdea began before I could blurt out some other lame excuse. "we bring Serah _and_ Hope in here and ask them if they want to fight." He didn't wait for an answer and just left the airship, leaving the four of us to sit in the airship in an awkward silence.

"I think Serah fighting will us will be fun." Snow said in a confident tone.

"I really wouldn't be talking if I was you right now." I told him, crossing my arms and legs. A habit Serah always pointed how when I'm impatient or nervous. Or both.

Rygdea came back in shortly after with the two in tow. "So who wants to come along on this fantastic field trip?"

"Of course I'm going." Hope said, ignoring Rygdea. "You are going to need somebody in charge of some of the medical supplies."

"See." Snow told Bartholomew unthinkably, "he wants to help. Then it's settled. Hope and Serah comes."

"Wait!" Serah exclaimed a little too loudly, "I don't want to go!"

I gave Snow an 'I told you so' look and he just moved me aside. "Sure you do! We're running into the fray, rescuing other survivors and bringing things we need to survive! Doesn't that sound like fun!"

Sometimes I do wonder if Snow actually hears the words that come out of his mouth sometime.

"I don't like fighting, Snow." Serah said.

It was unmistakenable the dissapointment that crossed through Snow's face at the idea that his future wife may never want to fight alongside him. But he was quickly able to mask it with that trademark grin before anybody else could catch it. "If that makes you happy." He said almost unsure. Serah smiled up at him and made Snow bend over so they could kiss.

I looked away, still slightly uncomfortable with their...public displays of affection.

"Ahem!" Rygdea cleared his throat awkwardly and they pulled apart. "Serah, could you ask for the volunteers to come in."

Serah looked once more at Snow longingly, not even glancing at me, before leaving.

"That's it?" Bartholomew asked in disbelief as only _four_ civilians entered the airship. One of them was Terra who waved at me upon arrival. (I had to sneak a wave back before Snow saw and probably make fun of me for actually make friends) Two of them were the married couple Squall and Rinoa. And the fourth was the boy twin.

"Humph." Sazh snorted, "nobody wants to risk their lives going back to Cocoon.

"I wonder what it looks like." Hope said. "It's so dark."

"Darker then nighttime I bet."

"We can work with this." Rygdea said hopefully though he even looked like he was getting ready to pull his hair out.

"Do any of you know how to use a gun?" Sazh asked.

"I am a GC soldier." Squall said and even nodded in my direction as he said this, infering my uniform that I was still wearing.

"Good, good." Bartholomew began to mutter like a madman, "more military experience. That's good, that's very good. W-what about your wife?"

"I'm a rebel leader." Rinoa said, and put a small strand of hair behind her ear trying to appear humble. "I've held a gun once, twice, twenty times before."

Snow perked up at the information of another rebel like him working with us. "Hey, I'm a rebel leader too. What faction?"

"The Forest Owls. And your the founder of NORA right?" She asked.

Snow looked like he had just met his new BFF. "What about you...?" He was now addressing Terra.

"My name's Terra. I've been to battle before."

"Are you a soldier?" Hope asked.

"No."

"Rebel?" Bartholomew asked this time.

"No."

"Have you used a weapon before?" Rygdea asked.

Terra remained silent and straight faced and gave a quick glance in my direction. "I can learn. Fast."

"I trust her." I vouched. Everyone looked at me in surprise, even the other volunteers.

"Okay then," Rygdea said taking my word on it. "Welcome aboard."

"And who are you, young man?" Bartholomew asked the boy twin.

"Vaan." He answered.

"Do you have experience?" Hope asked. It was the funniest thing when I saw the man's face contort in what appeared to be envy since a fourteen year old boy just asked him if he had battle experience. Hope just continued waiting patiently for an answer, oblivous.

"Well...no." He finally said, and I saw his face flush abit.

"Alright, here's the deal," Sazh said saving the young man from embarrassment. "If we give you a gun, can we count on you to only shoot at the bad guys and/or not run and scream like a little girl."

"I'll be a damn good soldier!" Vaan said excitedly.

Rygdea grimaced. "Consider yourself...a mercenary. Mercanary...ish."

"I can deal with that." Vaan said slowly, like he was registering the fact he was just insulted. Suddenly Vaan's twin sister rushed into the airship.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but your not bringing my brother with you are you?"

"Penelo!" Vaan exclaimed, "stay out of this!"

"Well how can I just stand by and watch you throw your life away."

"I'm getting our brother Reks back!"

"Miss," Snow said, "don't worry about your brother here, we'll bring him and your Reks back. I can promise that."

She looked up at him with wide set eyes. "O-okay.

She gave her brother a hug then left. "Now that the introductions are out of the way, " Bartholomew said, "here is the formation. Sazh, Squall, Hope, Rinoa, and Terra, you'll start in Sunleth Waterscape and make your way to Bodhum. Rygdea, Snow, Vaan, and Lightning, you'll start in the Vile Peaks and make your way to Eden."

Before we left for Cocoon we had to redivide the supplies. In that time I tried to see Serah, who was talking to the same woman as before who turned out to be one of the nurses.

"You're looking for survivors, right." The woman said.

Serah continued staring straight ahead, ignoring my prescence. "Uh," I tried to answer the woman's question. "yes."

"My...husband is still in Cocoon." the woman said. "We have a son, Ainu." She pointed toward one of the little boys who looked like he was three years old. His hair was short and shaggy brown hair. "I don't think I'll be able to raise this child alone."

The woman looked about ready to cry, and Serah tried to console her. "We feel so sorry for you, Yuna."

"Serah I need to talk to you." I said outright, pulling her by the arm away from earshot. "What is wrong?"

She crossed her arms and her lips were in a thin line. "You and Snow are **both** leaving me. Here. With strangers."

"I thought you didn't want to go." I told her.

"I don't. But I thought you would have thought 'We can't both just leave Serah. We care about her too much'." Her eyes prickled with tears.

"We're doing this for you. Do you want to starve or get sick. We need supplies. We're coming back soon. I promise it won't take long and you'll be fine."

"Snow said the same thing." She said in a low tone. "Promises, promises. Can you two actually keep your promises."

It was official. Serah was angry at me. Not even just me, but at Snow too. Because we are suddenly responsible for hundreds of lives and not paying attention to her. This must have been the hardest on Serah.

I want to be here for her. Give her the wedding. But not if she dies from starvation or disease before that time. "I promise."

She didn't say anything. Just turned around and left.

Snow, Vaan, Rygdea and I boarded his airship, while Sazh and the rest of the group took the second ship. They were the only two with any sort of power flew towards the center of Cocoon and found ourselves in what I assumed to be the Vile Peaks.

Only instead of it being covered in dirt, it was covered in a thick blanket of snow. Rygdea landed the airship by what looked like an old abandoned campsite. Squall poked his head out as Sazh kept his ship airbourne.

"The best way to conserve energy," Rygdea called up, "is to go on foot, then double back. This scouting mission is going to take us a few days, but it'll be worth it, I promise."

"Be careful then." Squall called down to us before disappearing back into the airship. We watched as Sazh's group flew over us toward where Sunleth Waterscape was located.

"Wow." Vaan said, holding the gun close to his chest. "The Vile Peaks actually look worse then before. It's so miserable here."

"Well," Snow began, "without the Fal'Cies, Cocoon must be dying. Look, no lights, no water. We might be lucky to find food."

"It's so empty." Rygdea said.

Our conversation was interupted by the frighteningly familiar sound of an adamantoise. The ground shook as the large pulsian creature bounded for us.

"Ah!" We screamed.

"There's still monsters!" Snow yelled.

"We're looking for survivors," I told him, "monstrous sized animals must be alive around too."

"We can't just run!" Rygdea yelled, "shoot at it!"

We aimed our guns at the giant monster, and one of the bullets clumsily scraped my arm. I glared back at Vaan who looked at me sheepishly. "S-sorry-ah!" He proceeded to run in the opposite direction when the adamantoise came closer.

"New plan!" Rygdea said racing _passed_ the adamantoise.

"Rygdea!" I yelled at him. "Where the hell are you going!"

Then there was two. "Run Sis! AH!"

Snow quickly grabbed my hand and we followed where Vaan was still running for his life and screaming on the top of his lungs like a madman. I don't know how long we ran, but I felt myself actually fumble from the disleveled snow on the ground and I would have probably fallen if I didn't hear the rapid gunfire.

Rygdea stood on top of the airship on the other side of the monster and was shooting a very large machine gun at it, laughing like a maniac as he did so. We finally caught up to the newbie and he was trying to hide his drenched trousers.

The adamantoise fell like a giant tree and the ground shook more then when he was chasing after us. The snow bounced off the ground and flakes drizzled over my hair. Rygdea jumped off the airship, proud of himself and before he could make a smart comment I heard the mating call of a succubus. They were even still around.

"Oh no." I muttered. "Search for the succubus! If she's around then we'll be surrounded by incubuses."

"Huh?" Vaan squeaked pathetically, and I had to hold back the urge to aim my gun at him.

"The red creature. Avoid the blue ones until we find her. She'll call more if we kill one before she dies."

Rygdea picked back up his gun, Snow got into position, and I switched my gun to blade mode. I spotted the succubus dancing on top of the dead adamantoise and glanced back at Snow. He nodded in understanding and gave me a head start.

I noticed that while I was running the arms were lighting up and she continued her mating ritual. She never did that before. She only did if she was summoning more minions. That was when I saw our genius of a recruit take down an incubus.

"Hey!" I yelled at him and he looked up, distracted, "are you colorblind! I said take out the-oof!"

At first I thought the succubus took a swing at me, but it was actually Rygdea who had pushed me out the way from the attack of a _second_ succubus.

Damn it. There was three succubuses total. Rygdea shot at one of them, but it jumped up and the bullets ended up taking down one of the minions. The ritual continued and two more were summoned. "We have to take one of them out quick!" Snow hollered as he wrestled with an incubus, "they are damn near impossible when there's more of them."

"Right!" Vaan said. But he _continued_ taking out incubuses. "It's not working! More are coming in!"

"**What** the fuck did **I just say**!?" I hollered, and he just continued to look at me confused. In other words...

Vaan is an idiot. He has won the idiot award.

"We split up three ways." Rygdea told us.

We did just that, only it ended up taking much longer to defeat the main targets because they had the extra time to buff themselves us. I also felt like they may have debuffed us as well. They had the time.

Once we took out the succubuses, a swarm of incubuses jumped Vaan. "Help!" He screamed, waving his arm up.

I began walking away and Snow grabbed my arm. "You're leaving him like this!?" He exclaimed.

"He's slowing us down. We haven't even started looking for survivors." I told him.

"We can't sacrifice some guy to those. I promised his sister we would bring him back."

"Dammit, Snow!" I yelled. And while we were arguing Rygdea cleared out the other monsters and they scurried away in search of a new mistress. He helped Vaan up.

And he had a nerve to get angry with **me**. "I cannot believe you were going to leave me to die!" He said.

"You wouldn't have died." I told him. "At least...not right away."

"Okay!" Rygdea began, "let's all try to get along. We are in this together now. Which means we actually listen to strategies and we don't let anyone fall behind."

I blew my breath. "Fine, whatever. But he better toughen up. I can't take everybody under my wing! I'm not a chocobo mother."

**General POV**

**Sunleth Waterscape**

When Sazh and his party arrived in Sunleth Waterscape, instead of the lush green that was to be expected of a place that had the words "sun" and "water" in it, the ground was replaced with mounds of snow. The trees were bare of any leaves, every source of water was frozen.

No creatures were about, not as far as they knew.

"I remember when my eighth grade science class took us here on a field trip." Hope said as he looked around the almost unrecognizable scenery.

"Yeah." Sazh added, keeping his guns out in case of an attack. "I remember I had took your class."

"I don't remember..." Hope began but shortly after his eyes widened in realization, "oh wow. I totally forgot we met before we were L'Cie."

"I don't blame you for not remembering. I was just the pilot. I didn't remember you eighter until just now. You were pretty quiet."

Terra poked around a barren rosebush, the branches fraying as it died with the rest of the beautiful enviroment. "I miss the flowers." She admitted.

"I miss the leaves." Rinoa said, her hands tracing an old tree. "It was like a ceiling over nature. Now it feels too open." Squall snorted at his wife's words and she narrowed in return but continued. "There were also lots of beautiful animals that roamed. Now they are all..."

"Gone." Sazh finished. "This place died because of the Fal'Cie. They wanted us to believe that this was nature. But ever since I've been to Gran Pulse, Sunleth seemed...fake to me. Everything was too green, too wet, too calm. It was too perfect. Nothing like nature."

"On Gran Pulse," Hope added, "everything did seem alot more real. The flowers, the skies, the trees, especially the animals. The air even seemed more refreshing then in Cocoon."

"Hey look at that!" Rinoa exclaimed pointing toward a large crystal pillar. Terra was already investigating it when she gasped loudly.

"Oh my god. There's people trapped in here!" She exclaimed.

The others rushed over to where Terra was pressing her face in. "There are people stuck." Squall said. "It looks like there's no way to get them out though. They are crystal with the pillar."

Sazh and Hope looked at each other sadly before looking in for confirmation.

It was Fang and Vanille.

**Gran Pulse**

Bartholomew was helping an elder survivor create a new calendar for a new era.

The girls, Serah and Penelo were talking and confiding in each other while in the company of a nurse named Yuna who was tending to the sick and wounded.

Her son was playing with Dajh, Denzel, Marlene, and another presumingly orphaned boy, Harry.

This is what everybody was doing before it happened.

Bartholomew was the first to notice when while he was etching down dates, his handwriting appeared more jagged, like eighter the pen or paper were moving. That was when the ground began to shake.

"What's going on!?" The old man exclaimed, shaking in fear.

Coming toward the camp from the forest were a horde of adamantoises. PSICOM ran to the weaponary while other survivors helped gather their loved ones again in an attempt to flee. Basically, everybody had went into a panic.

"Where are the kids?!" Penelo asked in fear.

"Oh my god!" Serah screamed, "I was supposed to be watching Dajh! DAJH! DAJH!"

"Oh no!" Yuna exclaimed pointing toward the river away from the camp. "They are in the way!"

Serah began running toward their self appointed leader, "BARTHOLOMEW!"

The man heard before she saw her. "Bartholomew! The kids are in danger!"

Meanwhile, the kids were just noticing the incoming monsters. Two of the boys were already sprinting, one of them crying for their mother. Denzel and Dajh were following behind them until Dajh noticed that Marlene was no longer behind them. She had fell after the two other boys knocked her down in their rush.

"Denzel!" Dajh grabbed the older boy's hand. "Marlene's gonna get crushed!"

He didn't need to be told twice, as Denzel was already racing past Dajh, him following close behind to save Denzel's little sister. Marlene looked up from the ground just as one of the adamantoise closed in on her. "Denzel! Help me!" She screamed.

"Marlene!" He hollered pulling her up. But it was too late. He quickly threw her over to Dajh, and the two threw themselves away from the horde.

Bartholomew and Yuna (who made Penelo take care of the sick) had hurried to the river to rescue the kids when the monsters came charging their way. PSICOM fired their guns at the beasts, bring them down into the river (that was now contaminated with their blood).

Yuna pulled away from Bartholomew, searching for her son. "Ainu! Ainu answer me!"

"Mommy!" Ainu cried with Harry in tow and Yuna gathered the two in her arms, glad the kids were safe.

Bartholomew found Dajh who was hunched over coughing violently. He quickly came to his side and patted his pack as he threw up. "No!"

This voice came from a certain little girl who was leaning over her brother's lifeless body. Two of the PSICOM soldiers had to pick her up, despite her super tight grip on the front of his bloody shirt. "No! Denzel! My brother!"

**Lightning's POV**

**Vile Peaks**

"Aah!" a woman screamed.

Rygdea and Snow leaped to the rescue with Vaan following close behind him. I drew my gunblade in expecting a monster.

A pulseworker, a malfunctioning one was terrorizing a woman appearing to be in her late twenties with long brown hair in a light blue bandana. Snow ripped the top of the pulseworker and tossed it aside so it wouldn't cause anymore harm.

The woman of course continued to scream. Rygdea had to grab her shoulders and force her to look up at him. "Hey, hey, it's alright. You're safe now."

"We're here to rescue you!" Vaan said with an unnatural happy disposition that would put Snow's to shame.

The woman stopped screaming and looked around and appeared to relax a bit more. "Oh thank the Goddess!" she exclaimed and surprised me with her sudden accent that was oddly resembling Rygdea's. "I was sure I would have been a goner."

"Are you hurt?" I asked.

"Duh." She stated, gesturing herself like her injury was just going to suddenly become visible. "I am missin' my child. My baby's ten and has long black hair like his father's."

Again, she spoke like I knew what the hell she was talking about. But Rygdea seemed to know. "Is his name Harry?"

Her eyes widened and she squealed, hurting my ears, "you found my baby! Where is he? Is he with you?"

"He's on Gran Pulse." Snow told her and her jaw dropped.

"Gran Pulse?! The world down under? What in tarnation is he doin' down there? Nevermind. As long as he's alright. Can you take me to him?"

"As soon as we collect other survivors." I told her.

"How long is that goin' to take, I need to see my lil' Harry!"

"I promise, ma'am." Snow said, "as soon as we rescue others and gather supplies you will be with your son again."

The woman's lips curled into what looked like a wicked smile, "very well, then. My name is Ruby by the way. Like the pretty pink stone."

"I guess we'll double back then." Rygdea announced. "Next stop, Gapra Whitewood."

**General POV**

**Sunleth Waterscape**

"Rinoa!" Squall exclaimed for the upteenth time. "Shut your mouth!"

Rinoa hit him in the back of the head alot harder then usual, and she actually looked really mad. The two love birds have been arguing for the past hour now. Terra ignored them while Sazh and Hope had to mediate the two. But now even they have given up.

No one knew exactly what caused them to start arguing. The two were just talking about the Fal'Cie and it became an argument. A big argument.

Well mostly Rinoa ranting and raving while Squall rolled his eyes and making the occasional remark that riled up his wife more and making her hit him. Sazh had to already pull her back twice when she looked like she was about to 'beat the emo out of him' as she had put it.

Squall spun on his heel and glared down at his wife. "Stop hitting me!"

"Aw, did I bruise your ego." Rinoa taunted.

Squall snorted, "nope. I'm not like Seifer."

Rinoa's eyes flashed dangerously before she shoved him violently. The two were so caught up in their arguement they didn't notice the snow moving suspiciously. Rinoa stomped passed Squall, furious. "Why the hell do you always bring that guy up. Do you have a thing for him or something!" Rinoa went off still walking. "Would you rather be with him then me!"

"Fuck him." Squall muttered.

"He was my asshole of a boyfriend and you knew better then to bring him up." While Rinoa continued to talk, Hope noticed the snow begin to rise up to Rinoa's height. Terra gasped, gripping her gun.

"Uh, Rinoa..." Sazh tried to get her attention but she wasn't listening as the ice mound began casting a shadow.

"Rin, look out!" Squall pushed Rinoa out the way just as the ice mound's face suddenly appeared and blew his breath, a blizzard storm occuring.

Sazh and Hope started firing their guns while Terra went to help Squall and Rinoa.

The dark haired man had dislocated his shoulder and Terra helped him get to his feet and out the way. His wife grabbed a hold of the gun on the ground and began shooting at it too. "This isn't working!" She screamed.

"It's an ice elemental." Terra said as she and Squall had just begun shooting at it. "We need fire!"

Then the unthinkable happened. Sazh's hand began to glow an orangish red and he casted fire magic. The creature cried out in pain. Hope looked up at Sazh in surprised. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know." Sazh responded.

"Well whatever you did you got to do it again, it's still alive." The silver haired teen pointed toward the ice flan as it staggered toward the pair. Sazh's hand glowed again and he melted the flan until it was reduced to nothing but a puddle.

The ex-L'cie looked at his hands puzzledly. "I think I just casted magic."

Terra watched the two with a curious expression before Squall's groans brought her back to attention. "You alright?"

"I think I dislocated my shoulder." He told her.

"Rinoa, we're going to need some help here." Terra called out to her new friend who quickly appeared by her husband's side, gripping his injured shoulder, The blonde woman grabbed his arm.

"Okay, on the count of three we're going to pop his shoulder back in place. Okay." The married couple nodded. "Ready. One-"

"Ow!" Squall hollered like an injured cat.

"Rinoa, I said on three." Terra told the dark haired woman exasperated.

"Sorry. At least your better, honey." Rinoa cooed, giving a swift kiss on Squall's cheek who looked back at her, unamused.


	3. The Fal'Cie, The Primarch, and a Suicide

After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos

Set after Final Fantasy XIII, ignores Final Fantasy XIII-2 canon. No pairings except Snow x Serah.

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: So not only do I have characters from other fandoms appearing (just for variety), but I have **_**one**_** OC named "Vera". Don't worry she's not a main character. I just created her just so we can have "that character". You know "that character". The character that is there basically to complicate the hell out of everything and make you hate her for how insignificant and **_**annoying**_** she is. (Kinda like Alyssa Zaidelle) But instead of throwing Alyssa in there I held her off in case I need her later.**

**General POV**

**Gran Pulse**

A funeral service was held the following morning after what had happened. For those who had lost somebody after Cocoon's Fall, or to the incident that occured after a handful of their strongest defenders had left to the frozen planet for supplies.

A young girl, Marlene was mourning the loss of her brother, who sacrificed his life to save his little sister from being crushed by an adamantoise. Yuna was holding the girl in her arms, tears pouring out of her eyes as Bartholomew continued his speech.

Serah and Penelo were crying as well, smothering the little girl in hugs. Dajh noticed how empty the girl looked. Her family was gone, and she was alone. Dajh didn't know how he'd be without his dad, and couldn't imagine the pain Marlene was going through.

Harry and Ainu having experienced loss themselves just bowed their heads in silence and respect.

"You have all wanted to leave this area," Bartholomew continued his speech, "and a day has passed. Our comrades who had ventured into our dead home have not yet returned..." he cleared his throat, "so, we are going to move on without them. Yes it is dangerous to venture out into this unknown world without them, but we do not want a repeat of what has happened. I assure you all, we will make it out alive. We are heading to the village of Oerba, the home of the two pulsian natives that sacrificed their lives for us to live today. We will make a new home there. It is only fitting. So, gather everything you wish to take with you, we will move immedietly."

**Lightning's POV**

**Gapra Whitewood**

Our airship landed just outside the large metal doors leading us into the Gapra Whitewood. Since these woods were all mechanical and ran off the Fal'Cie's power, we had to figure out a way to get inside. There could be people trapped within.

Rygdea handed us back our weapons, but when he tried handing Ruby a gun...

"Oh, no thank ya, baby, I'll just walk."

This caused the four of us to exchange a perplex look. She turned down a gun? "Ruby," Snow tried to tell her, "you have to carry a gun, it's the only way to protect yourself."

"Why would I waste my time firin' a gun when I got three strappin' handsome men to do that for me."

Snow and Rygdea continued to be bewildered while Vaan looked a bit pleased to be acknowleged as 'handsome' by another woman. "This is non negotiable." I told her. "If you are to come with us then you must be armed."

The busty brunette just eyed me, "Or what, you're gonna leave me here to die. Listen here, missy, I am a lady. My mama taught me that it ain't ladylike for women to be playin' with swords and guns. And I ain't no soldier, I'm an actress."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Where actually was she raised? Rygdea, fortunately had an idea. "Ruby, right, that's your name I reckon."

"Ruby like the pretty pink stone." She repeated her earliar introduction.

"Right, well think of this like a role in the movie. You are a doll from the south who is thrown into turmoil. In order to save her son, she gotta pick up a weapon and fight her way to him. Think of yourself as the main heroine."

Ruby seemed to consider that for a moment, her green lips curved into a thoughtful smile. She took the gun out of Rygdea's hand. "So how do ya work this thing anyway?"

I rolled my eyes, and I heard Snow snort in amusement at my reaction to this ridiculous...display of female inferiority. "Just point and shoot." Vaan said like he knew what the hell he was doing since day one.

Ruby's eyes lit up like her name, "like a camera!"

"You know what, let's just try to get this thing opened." I said quickly before I punched this southern belle in the face. "Exactly how are we going to do that without power?"

"Maybe there's another way inside." Snow suggested.

"Let's try going around." Vaan suggested. He looked over at Ruby. "Lady's first."

"Well, aren't you charmin'!" She squeaked skipping ahead of him.

How much longer until we could go back?

**General POV**

**Nautilus**

Squall and Rinoa still refused to speak to one another. Which meant throughout the night Squall would distance himself as far away from the airship as he could while Rinoa seemed to snuggle up to a bemused Terra.

But their squabble was forgotten when Sazh finally landed in Nautilus and the first thing Rinoa did was run out the ship and vomit to the side. Hope rushed to her side, awkwardly rubbing her back. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand giving the teen a watery smile before Squall questioned her.

"Are you alright?" Squall asked his wife.

Despite the dark haired man finally expressing concern, Rinoa just shook her head, her dark locks fluttering about smoothly, trying to recompose herself. "I'm fine."

"Are you airsick, Rinoa?" Sazh asked.

"She doesn't get airsick." Squall told the pilot.

It was then Rinoa's eyes widened in a realization, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together and come up with the same realization. Squall paled while Sazh uttered a "Uh oh."

"Um, Rinoa, when was your last menstrual cycle?" Terra asked, her voice shaking slightly.

Rinoa's lips tightened and Squall pinched the bridge of his nose letting out a very sharp breath. "How could you have not been aware of this?" He asked, coldly.

The dark haired woman's eyes flashed in anger once more, "Well golly, I've been kinda busy with errands, a moody husband, and the end of the world. Must have slipped my mind."

"This is not the time for jokes!" Squall exploded, his eyes hard, "your pregnant!"

"Hey, hey!" Hope cried out trying to calm everyone down. "I'm sure she's just, you know..."

"No. Kid, stay out of this." The dark haired man barked.

"Look," Terra this time stepped in. "We're not exactly in a safe spot to argue. So let's search around and then when we've all cooled down and get back to the airship-"

Upon hearing the word 'airship', Rinoa threw up all over Sazh's shoes. Terra looked up sheepishly at the boots owner, "Oh...sorry."

**Gran Pulse**

Bartholomew proceeded to lead the remaining survivors through the Archylle Steppe, following the river in hopes of finding the village of Oerba. Or at least buy them enough time until the others return.

"I have finished." The old man said, a huge stack of paper in his hand.

"What in the world is that?" A pregnant woman with golden eyes and dark hair asked pointing at the pages.

"The new calendar for the new age." His eyes glistened as his mind wandered, "I've seen alot of things. I've fought in wars, watched society shift, people evolve. And now...I am grateful to the Goddess that I lived long enough to see the new er-"

"Let me see it, old man!" The woman cut him off snatching the calendar out of his hand. "AF? As in 'After Fall'. How original. And why are there only twelve months instead of thirteen?" She continued to ask, shoving the pages back in the old man's hands in a heap. "Tis rubbish."

"Miss-"

"Miss? My how polite for you to address me so, my name is Morrigan."

Bartholomew eyed the soon to be mother with suspicioun. She noticed this but didn't comment. "Are you from Cocoon?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing. "Of course I am. What kind of nonsense tis that? You think I just wandered into your camp and tried to blend in with the others." Bartholomew didn't comment, and this only made Morrigan's expression even more annoyed. She groaned. "Tis anyone suspicous, look to the elderly man before you. He may seem frail and meek, but so do koala bears before they claw your face off. The resemblence tis not far off eighter."

The older man looked confused as he and Bartholomew watched the pregnant woman continue to walk on.

Serah and Penelo, earliar just speaking about the things they missed the most were now silent and miserable, wondering what was left to do now that their loved ones may never come home.

A tall woman with long straight pale blonde hair approached the two women. "I feel so sorry for you two." She said, her eyes glinted, "you were left behind by people who say they care about you but are just off on an adventure."

Penelo shook her head at her. "Vaan didn't leave me because of adeventure. Yeah, he dreamed of becoming a rebel, but he wouldn't just..."

The woman didn't seem convince. Only because Penelo didn't. Serah looked over to her new friend with pity. "Something may have happened to them. Then what? I think we only have...a week. Unless you know we get another giant turtle accident."

Marlene who had been walking close enough to hear their conversation stopped walking immedietly, offended by the woman's comment. Penelo and Serah continued not to say anything, and the former walked faster so she was no longer walking with Serah and the rude woman.

"Sorry. How rude of me." The woman said, though she really didn't sound sorry. "Where are my matters? My name is Vera."

"Vera?" Serah repeated.

"You have a name too I take it."

"Serah."

"Funny that. Serah and Vera." She said, taking the place that Penelo just was.

Marlene, a six year old girl who was now alone since her brother's death, found herself lost, wondering in the crowd. Deep in her throughts she accidently bumped into Harry, who was talking with Ainu and Dajh. "Hey." He greeted cautiously for a ten year old.

"Hi." She said softly. "Is it okay if I walk with you guys?" She asked.

"Of course you can, Marlene." Dajh invited, and Ainu slowly grabbed hold of Marlene's hand, letting her know that the boys were worried about her. They didn't know each other long, but the remaining children have formed a close bond because of their age.

**Lightning's POV**

**Gapra Whitewood**

There was no way into the Woods. After hours of searching, walking, attempting to climb, more walking, and even trying to convince Snow to ram into the wall. It was locked tight.

"Ooh boy!" Ruby continued to flap her lips and spat nonsense, "how much longer til we actually get inside. My feet are killin' me. Can one of you boys be a dear and carry me. How about you, big boy," she sauntered over to Snow, her hands carressing the back of his trenchcoat, "I only weigh as much as a kitten. And for you it would be a breeze."

"I..." Snow looked over at me nervously, "I'm kinda engaged."

She snorted, "I ain't askin' you to knock my boots. A girl can only walk so much and so far with these high heels. Like I said, I'm an actress. I don't wear no military boots like your fiance' over there who's been glarin' daggers at me for the passed hour afraid I might steal her man."

Wait what?

"Oh no!"

"Hell no!" Snow and I said at the same time. "He's engaged to my little sister."

"So she's like my sister. We're not...you know...together."

Ruby looked back at me like she was living a lie. Then she looked at Rygdea and pointed to him like he wasn't listening. "Ohhh! Is this one yours then. Lucky doll, your the most handsome out of the three."

"Rygdea and I aren't eighter-"

"Oh thank goodness, Now I don't have to worry about stealin' him. Guess you like them pretty-"

"Don't even entertain the idea of me and Vaan." I cut off, and Vaan looked taken aback by my bluntness.

"None of y'all. How can one woman be with three men and resist. Are you...a lesbian?"

My body began to move before my brain registered what it was I was charging at her to do. Snow was about to hold me back when the doors to the Gapra Whitewood entrance opened up. The blue hue radiating.

The power was back on.

**General POV**

**Nautilus**

"It's so dark in here." Terra said, feeling her way through the dark and abandoned amusement park. "I can't see a thing."

"Hey Sazh," Hope began, "now would be a good time to use your fire magic."

"For the last time kid," Sazh exclaimed in exasperation. "I don't know how I did it. And I don't think I can do it again."

"Did you try?"

"I don't like messin' with things I ain't so sure about."

"You used it before when we were L'Cie."

"But we aren't L'Cie now. It's different. What if it uses like life force or somethin'. I ain't no spring chicken."

"He has a point." Terra added, her expression stoic.

"Or he turns into some sort of beast and kills us all." Squall commented in his snappy tone.

"Hey," Sazh warned, "I get that you don't like us L'Cies. But we aren't them any more."

"Then how can you use magic!?" Squall asked.

"Geez, and I thought Soldier girl was grumpy."

Just then music began playing, and the lights flashed back on. And the abadoned amusement park was back in business. "What is this?" Terra asked. "The power's back on?"

"I thought the Fal'Cie ran the power?" Hope asked. "But they're gone."

Before anyone else can comment, Terra let out a surprised gasp before taking off toward the Park Square, where the Pompa Sancta parade was usually held. "Terra!" Rinoa called out to her friend and the group followed after her, drawing their weapons in case she ran into trouble.

What they found before them was not at all what they expected. They should have...but didn't. The Eidolons that were held here, that were part of the Parade, lied scattered about dead.

"It's party time-...it's party time..." Hope looked down at his feet, having stepped on an already broken Carbuncle disc.

"This is awful." Rinoa stated, examining Siren's broken harp.

Terra was hunched over the Eidolon, Ramuh. His eyes closed, and the rest of the body gray like he was made out of ashes. "I'm so sorry." The woman cried, wiping away her tears with the back of her arm.

Something deep within Sazh and Hope stirred. A certain sadness, like when a loved one dies. They didn't know these Eidolons but for some reason, they felt an emotional connection with them.

"I feel like crying." Hope admitted, knelting down next to the struggling Terra.

"Yeah." Sazh agreed. "Maybe because of our Eidolons. They may be dead now, but they are still a part of us. Perhaps we're feeling what they are feeling."

Terra quickly stood up trying to hide her feelings, but realized better. "I can feel it too."

"You do?" Hope asked.

"How?" Rinoa asked. "You weren't even a L'Cie."

Terra sighed. "Actually...I was."

**Lightning's POV**

**Gapra Whitewood**

Our group entered the once dead mechanical woods, and erecting before us was a Fal'Cie. He was still alive.

Ruby screamed, tossing the gun at Vaan and running away, her heels in one hand. "Kill it! Kill it!"

"The Fal'Cie's alive!" Snow exclaimed, and we all got into our battle formations.

Vaan and Rygdea began shooting at the Fal'Cie's core. "No!" I yelled, remembering when I became a L'Cie. "You have to attack the-"

I was cut off when the Fal'Cie's top exploded, hot lava pouring out of it's head. "Don't touch it!" Vaan said.

"Nah..." Rygdea muttered sarcastically. "So how do we kill it?"

An idea hatched when I saw the opening. "We need to plug up his hole." Rygdea snorted. "Is this really the time to laugh about this?" I asked exasperated.

"Sorry, sorry. You're right. That totally wasn't funny." Rygdea tried to focus. "Sounds great and all but how can we get close enough without meltin'."

Snow looked around, "we're going to need something big enough to cover it up."

The plan seemed like a good idea at first, clog his head so the lava will build within itself then explode. But there wasn't exactly a perfect size rock lying around. The Fal'Cie began charging up and before I could order anyone to dive, Snow was thrown into the air.

"Snow!" I called out to him.

The Fal'Cie looked like it was about to shoot out lava again, and Snow was right in the line of fire.

"I can't look!" Vaan cried, covering his eyes.

The lava rocketed alot quicker then I had anticipated and I could only watch in horror. Suddenly, while Snow was attempting to block himself from the impact (whatever good that would do him), a large blizzard erupted around him, and I saw the lava freeze. The Fal'cie was stuck.

Wasn't a rock, but that should do. The Fal'Cie (despite being godlike) wasn't at all smart and tried to conjure up more lava, the red flaming fireliquid spewing and leaking from around the ice pillar. But the leftover blizzard from Snow's magic made the small leftover lava freeze up along the sides until it was completely sealed away.

The Fal'Cie began to tremble as it tried to resist the build up, about to blow. Rygdea shoved me and Vaan forward to where Ruby was cowering, but I saw Snow still midair on top of the frozen lava. "Snow! What are you doing? It's about to explode!"

"My hand is stuck!" he called back.

"Then take off your glove, idiot!" I started running toward him despite Rygdea's protests and upon closer look I saw that the pillar has claimed his entire hand, making it apart of the sabotoge. I drew my blade, jumped up and cut off the ice just where his arm lingered. We both landed on our feet, and Snow grasped his still crystalized hand. The next thing I knew Snow threw himself at me, and a loud explosions busted my ears.

Long moments past, and when I opened my eyes my vision was dazy, and all I could hear was a loud ringing noise. Just above me Snow's face appeared and his mouth was moving but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I struggled to stay concious, knowing this wasn't the time to pass out. I saw that somebody was trying to pull Snow away from me but he was shaking them off.

"She...space..."

"..s..."

My head was swimming, I may have a concussion. My hearing was starting to return and I was beginning to see Vaan's face as well. "Sis!" Snow called too loudly in my ear.

I shoved the large man, and involuntarily kicked him in the groin when I rushed to my feet. I almost lost balance and this time Vaan caught me. I shook him off. "I'm fine!" I spat, but even I didn't believe it.

Despite the Fal'Cie being destroyed, the Whitewood was still lit. Not letting that bother me right now, I knelt over Snow who had one good hand gripped at his front. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't mean to knock you out, Sis." He groaned through the pain, "I just dove so you wouldn't be hit."

"I wasn't talking about that. I'm actually...thankful for that. But I mean when you were stuck on the pillar!"

"I was...stuck." He said, not knowing how exactly to respond to it.

"You could have died!" I exclaimed.

I wasn't really mad at Snow, he, for once, didn't even try to do anything. I just got...scared. Serah is all alone on Gran Pulse and if something had happened to her fiance'. Snow seemed to understand even though I hadn't said anything. He didn't say anything eighter, thank goodness.

"Let me see your hand." I told him, already grabbing hold of his encased arm. I forcibly removed the ice despite Snow's cries of pain, and his glove slipped right off with it. That was long gone.

But his hands were pale and shaking and raw. It was a weird combination of burns and frost bite. "Can you feel anything?" I asked poking his hand.

"A little." he answered.

"Good we don't need to cut it off." I said, standing back up.

Rygdea was standing there with Ruby and...a man I did not recognize.

How long had he been there?

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Tidus." He greeted. "I've been trapped here for days now. And that thing wouldn't let me go. Luckily this woman found me. But instead of letting me out she just did some clippity clap, bibbiddi bobbidi boo, and aah...everything came back to life."

Exactly who was he and how high is he?

"This poor fella' was hidin' in a corner when I found him." Ruby filled in.

"Oh hey," I remembered how she fled, "thanks for fighting. Really appreciate it." I snapped.

"I already told ya, lil' lady. I don't fight." She countered. I was about ready to kick her ass but once more, Snow held me back.

"He's Yuna's husband and Ainu's father." Vaan added.

"Your saying that like I know these people." I snapped again.

"Somebody is a bit agitated." Ruby cooed.

Snow kept his hand on me. "Well, we'll get you home. We're still exploring Cocoon a bit for survivors, and supplies."

"And answers." Rygdea said. "I thought you couldn't use no more magic."

"That's what I thought." Snow said, looking down at his now clammy and pink hand. He looked at his wrist where his brand used to be, but no L'Cie tatoo was present.

"I thought we were done with this." I grumbled.

**General POV**

**Nautilus**

"So let me get this straight." Sazh said after Terra finished telling her story. "You were a L'Cie over thirty years ago, and half that time you were in crystal stasis."

"Yes." She answered. "After we completed our Focus, and being crystalized we reawoke. We thought that the Goddess Etro was giving us one more chance to live out a normal life." The L'Cie's eyes began to glisten slightly with tears, "but they are all gone now. Locke, Celes, all of them. Now it's just me. I am the last L'Cie."

She pulled down the top of her dress a bit to show everyone her L'Cie brand on her chest, fizzled out and white like Fang's was. It was like a part of her skin. "I was like you. I thought we were human again. But...some time after, we started getting our magic back, then our brands reappeared." She pulled it back up looking between Sazh and Hope. "What I'm trying to say is...you never really escape your fate."

"You did." Hope said. "Our friend, one of the women in the crystal pillar. Her brand was like that, because she refused to serve the Fal'Cie."

"I know what the pigmentation means." Terra said, her hands over her heart. "But, you'll never live a normal life. Not really."

"I don't believe this." Squall, who had remained silent since Terra confessed, now spoke up, letting go of his wife's hand. "this entire time you were a L'Cie and you didn't say anything. She could have become cieth."

"No, she wouldn't." Hope tried to explain. "her brand does not advance."

"So she would be this powerful being for the rest of her life. I cannot believe nobody knew about her."

"Squall." Rinoa tried to reason.

"L'Cie are slaves. No matter how much you want it you will never become normal." He continued. "Look at where we are now because of _L'Cie_."

"We didn't do this!" Hope argued, his emotions getting the better of him. "The Fal'Cie did!"

"But you still served them."

"We did not! We fought against them!"

"And we lost our home because you tried to 'fight destiny'!" Squall spat, his voice loud and echoing throughout the park. Hope shrank within himself in fear. "People died because you wanted to be 'normal' again. You did more harm then good!"

"Your not makin' any sense, boy!" Sazh shouted, "Your mad because we serve them, then mad when we turn against them. What do you expect us to do!"

Squall didn't need to say it. The answer was obvious in his disgusted glare and Rinoa's desperate cry for her husband to just stop talking. A gunshot sound filled the air, and everyone drew their guns.

Men clad in heavy dark silver almost medieval armor appeared in the park, their shining guns drawn and firing. The group retaliated as they headed toward the spherical transporter, Rinoa was the one that thought better of it. She jumped into the water surrounding it.

The group hesitated at first, but with mysterious men in armor shooting at them, they realized that they didn't have much choice and dove in after her. They swam the channels toward where the exit presumbly was. Hope felt something following them.

When he turned his head, he saw the incoming spherical transport, probably full of soldiers. The others also noticed and swam faster, their lungs burning for oxygen. Squall saw the surface and despite his earliar poisonous words, they had no choice but to work together. They resurfaced...

...only to be surrounded by even more soldiers. "You have no where else to run, intruders." The leader made himself know with his larger armor.

"Intruders?" Sazh questioned. "This was our home first before you..." he reevaluated their armor, "freaks took over. Who are you anyway, some old videogame nerds trying to take advantage of an apocalypse."

"God I hope not." Rinoa said in a serious tone.

"We are the Primarch's men." The leader explained.

"But..." Hope struggled for words that everyone else was at a loss to say. "The Primarch's dead."

"Don't tell me Dysley is still alive!" Sazh complain. "Aw, hell no! I am not fighting him _again_, pain the ass..."

"Dysley is dead." The leader interrupted. "And a new Primarch has taken the seat of Power."

"We serve a new Primarch in a new era." One of the men added.

"Our orders were to eliminate whoever was left to recorrupt the new order. Men!" The sound of guns cocking into position sounded, and everyone's hearts plummeted. "if you surrender, we will take you to him."

Nobody answered. Nobody knew who this 'new primarch' was. He could have been worse the Dysley, if that was even possible. You never know. Terra sighed, tossing the gun on top of the floor and raising her hands out of the water they were still submerged in. "I surrender. I do not wish to fight."

The leader sneered at the woman's willingness to give up and reached his hand out. Everyone wanted to tell Terra it was mistake, but they didn't exactly blame her for saving her own life. It seemed everyone was out for themselves. She accepted the leader's hand, and let him pull her out of the water, her hand quickly pressed against her chest to keep her dress that was weighed down with water from slipping off.

At least that was what it appeared like, until Squall saw something transparent and in a shape of a flower in her grasp. She showed it to the group openly, "This isn't worth it guys." She said, referring to the flower crystal.

Sazh and Hope knew exactly what it was, except for Rinoa who looked completely dumbfounded, and Squall who was just as lost as his wife, but not as willing to show it. Terra let the guards no she was about to smash it, and unaware of her intentions, made his men step back. "You made the right decision." He told her.

"I know I did." She said with a smile. She threw the crystal into the ground, and when it shattered, instead of it being in itty bitty tiny pieces, a bright glow blinded the men, since they were wearing all that metal. "Valefor!" She called out.

The beam of light shot to the sky and the stars twinkled. The Eidolon swooped in, then spread it's large blue violet wings. "I thought all the Eidolons were dead?" Hope asked.

"Not all of them." Terra answered with a gentle and warm smile, reaching for Hope's hand. "Come on, guys, before the men get up!"

Sazh clambered on, still in shock that they were actually going to escape. Rinoa was about to get on before she noticed Squall not moving. "Squall! Come on, we don't have much time." He continued to scowl. "I will leave you here, I am not screwing around."

When he saw that Rinoa was in fact serious on her threat he let out a frustrated breath and let his wife hoist him up on the great creature. "Take us to the airship." Sazh said.

Terra repeated the order to Valefor, and the Eidolon soared out of Nautilus.

**Gran Pulse**

Yuna could not cry. At least not in front all of these people. Since the Fall she has been forced to keep her tears to herself until she could be alone. And that has yet to happen.

Her husband was missing, most likely dead. And now she was left to not only care for her son, but hundreds of other people, since she was the best nurse. She was accompanied by Serah and Penelo, charming young women, and she spoke to Bartholomew from time to time.

But she missed her husband. She missed Tidus. He was the only man who ever gave her hope. Real hope. And who would make her smile and laugh.

But if he was gone...Yuna couldn't bear the thought of losing him. Her thoughts were interupted when she heard her son approaching. Motherly instincts.

"Mommy..." He began in the tone she knew all to well. "You're not working." He said happily.

"Yes," she said, looking down at her pleated floral skirt, "Mr. Estheim made mommy take a break."

"Good." He said. "You work too hard." He sat next to his mother, resting his head on her shoulder. She carressed her son's brown hair, reminded of her husband by the touch. "Mommy."

"Yes, Ainu." She said.

"Daddy's still alive." He reassured her. "I promise. He'll come home to us."

Yuna looked down into her son's eyes, "I believe you." She whispered, but she felt her voice crack.

Then she cried. Ainu pulled his mother into an embrace, fighting back his own tears, for his mother's sake. She patted her hair down. "This is too much for you, mom. Don't hold it in. It's okay to cry sometimes."

"Th-" She sniffed, "that means you too. Don't try to be strong. I know how you feel."

This heartfelt moment was cut off by the sound of a gunshot and a scream. The mother and son pulled apart and rushed to the source.

Bartholomew shoved aside people, following the sound of the scream. When he arrived to the sight, he saw Serah on her knees, her icy blue eyes wide in shock, screaming on the top of her lungs. Yuna arrived at her side and the pink haired girl fainted into her arms.

In front of Serah, Penelo laid crumpled on the ground, a gun not too far off from her hand. Bartholomew approached the body and picked up the gun, and saw the bullet wound on the side of Penelo's skull.

"Who gave her a gun without my position!?" Bartholomew barked.

"None of us did, sir!" One of the PSICOM soldiers responded, looking traumatized by what just happened.

Morrigan had Dajh and Harry in her care, the latter having his face buried in the woman's blouse, much to Morrigan's discomfort. Dajh just continued to stare in shock.

Vera was holding Marlene, who had her head bent and eyes covered with her own hands as soon as the gunshot sounded.

"The girl may have stolen it." Morrigan concluded. She just walked up in front of everyone and..." she mimed shooting herself in the head, much to Yuna's horror. Ainu threw up when he saw the girl's body.

Bartholomew could only watch in horror as everyone panicked.

**Nautilus**

When Valefor landed by the airship, after Terra gave her farewell, Sazh drew his weapon and well as Squall.

"What's go-"

"Sh!" Squall hushed.

"Somebody broke into our airship." Sazh explained.

"Wha-"

"Sh!" Terra and Hope said at the same time.

Squall went into soldier mode, his gun pointing upward as he quietly apprached the airship, his head cocked to the side listening intently. He looked back towards the group and pointed at it.

It didn't take a trained soldier to understand what he was saying. They were still inside. Squall pointed to Sazh and Terra and gestured them to move to his right, then pointed to Rinoa and Hope, signaling them to his left.

They nodded, pulling out their guns in the same position Squall had his and got into formation. Squall counted to three slowly, his free hand on the door. On three he opened the door and was instantly thrown back by a blonde man with a giant sword.

The four were so distracted by the sudden assault that they didn't realize someone just as quickly had exited the airship, grabbing Sazh's afro and throwing him to the ground. Rinoa shot at the attacker and grazed their bare arm. The attacker grabbed Rinoa's hand, yanking the gun out as well and kicked her shins, making the dark haired woman lose balance.

Terra was the next target. The attacker attempted to punched her face, but the petite woman saw it coming and scooted back. it was a rather quick dance as Terra dodged the attacker. Before Terra actually attempted to hit back, the attacker head butted her.

"Ow!" The L'Cie cried out grasping her forhead. The attacker then gave her an uppercut, knocking her down with a grunt.

Hope had tried to ambush the fast attacker, but the attacker had turned and Hope held back when he saw...

The attacker was a woman. Her beautiful face contorted from battle, and her melodic voice bellowing in a battle cry. She grabbed Hope's neck and threw him right back down.

The female attacker got into a battle stance, but realized most of the group was taken down, since they were still on the ground moaning in pain.

Squall was still holding his own against the first attacker. When the man attempted to slice him with his giant sword, Squall quickly blocked it with his gun. During their struggle Squall looked over and noticed the Guardian Corps uniform. "You're a GC?"

"Yeah, what of it?" The man countered still attempting to kill him.

"I am too." Squall answered. The blonde man ignored him and was getting ready to deliver another blow before he was suddenly kicked to the ground by his partner.

"Cloud, hold on a second. He said he's with GC."

The blonde swordsman, Cloud, jumped up easily. "And you believe him. They could be one of those men in armor."

"They after you too?" Squall asked.

"We got your back man! AH!" Sazh let out a battle cry, gun in hand before the woman turned around and punched him in the face. Terra, Rinoa, and Hope stared at her in awe.

The woman continued to speak like nothing happened. "So you're not with that army."

"No!" Hope spoke up, "we used to live here."

The woman let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness. Somebody on our side."

"Nobody is on our side, Tifa." Cloud tried to persuade, "This is all a set up so they can capture us."

Hope's eyes then lit up, "Wait a minute, now I know where I heard your names before." The pair looked down at the teenager like he just grew a second head. "Do you have kids named Denzel and Marlene?"

Tifa looked like the wind was knocked out of her, and Hope was about to ask if she was alright before she grabbed a hold of his shoulders making the boy squeak in fear of another pummeling. "You know Denzel and Marlene!?" She asked, her reddish brown eyes bright.

"Yeah. I was taking care of your son before I came here. I promised them two that I would find you."

"Well they sure found us." Sazh said, rubbing his swollen jaw.

"Can you take us to them." Tifa begged.

"Not so fast." Cloud protested. "Just because some kid knows the name of two of them doesn't mean he knows them."

"Two?" Rinoa asked. "How many kids you got?"

"We own an orphanage." Tifa told the group, making Cloud glare at her.

"You mean Denzel and Marlene aren't really your kids?" Terra asked.

"Gee, Tifa, why don't you tell them everything." Cloud spat at her.

"If they really are alive, then I will risk it." Tifa told the blonde man.

"...fine!" He barked. "But I don't trust them." He strode past Squall and moved aside Hope forcibly.

Sazh counted on his fingers, "Lightning gets moved to third, Squall has second...looks like we have a winner!"


	4. Subjugators and Black Widows

After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos

Set after Final Fantasy XIII, ignores Final Fantasy XIII-2 canon. No pairings except Snow x Serah.

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Lightning's POV**

**PalumPolum**

"How did you get yourself trapped in the Gapra Whitewood," I asked the unnaturally tan man sitting acrossed from me, acting unfazed by the situation. "Where are you from?"

"I'm from Bodhum." The man, Tidus, explained, "After Cocoon lost it's power, I just woke up there. I was sore too, like I've just been plucked out of Bodhum and dropped off there...from the sky."

"When Cocoon fell, you must have been tossed over. I'm surprised you survived a fall like that." Snow explained, as Vaan helped him wrap his injured hand with his bandana.

"What I want to know is how the hell the power is still runnin', and how that Fal'Cie was alive. And you! You used magic!" Rygdea looked over his shoulder at Snow. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know." Snow said honestly, "I was getting ready to be molten lava, then poof! Magic!"

"We have alot of questions left unanswered." I grumbled to myself.

Suddenly, Ruby snapped her fingers, her eyes bright. "Oh! I thought you knew you from somehwere! Don't ya play blitzball?"

Tidus smiled then stood up from his seat, striking a pose. "Tidus, Star Player of the Nautilus Abes."

Vaan also looked impressed. "You're that athlete!"

"I knew I recognized yer face. My last boyfriend was nuts over your team. I thought he liked you more then me." Ruby continued to go on.

It was then that his name and face did ring a bell. The Nautilus Abes were my dad's favorite team. He wasn't into blitzball, but when the Annual Cocoon Blitzball Tournament was on, he and I would watch.

The last game I saw with my dad was the last time Tidus played. I never really remembered the irony up until now. I could only laugh bitterly. The world just got alot smaller.

"I am your biggest fan!" Snow suddenly blurted, sounding much like a starstruck child.

Oh wait...

"I would ask for your autograph..." Snow added as Vaan just nodded dumbly.

"I don't think you'd be needing it." Tidus sniffed, enjoying the attention he was receiving. "I have the feeling we will be seeing alot of each other anyway. Since my family is with your family."

Snow and Vaan looked like they were going to squeal. It was childish to see them like that. And even Ruby was leaning closer to Tidus, in a particular way where her breasts were becoming more visible over the top of her dress.

I moved over next to Rygdea, the one sane person on the airship. Well, he has to be since he's flying it. He laughed, "no matter what crisis it is. When a celebrity is onboard, their eyes are _this_ big." He stretched his fingers out over his eyes, emphasizing his point.

I rolled my eyes. Even though I remembered Tidus from my childhood (on my television screen), I still consider him a stranger, who shouldn't receive special treatment.

He was just another survivor we picked up, like the rest of us. If he was sliced open, he'd bleed, not shoot out rainbows.

The entire ride, Snow and Vaan listened intently while Tidus explained play by play one of his games, Ruby obviously not following and just pushing herself practically onto him.

His conversation was interupted when Rygdea said, "What in the world?"

I looked ahead, and...there were people down there. They didn't look like they needed help, in fact it looked like they were living well since they looked cleaned and were wearing pristine decorative, blue and white robes.

I ached for a bath, having been scouting a supposedly dead Cocoon for three days straight. Ruby scoffed in my ear. "Hey! How come they look pleasantly plump. Land this bird, darlin'."

"I think that's what they want us to do." Rygdea added, gesturing toward one of the people clad in a robe, signaling us where to land.

"Don't do it." I tried to tell him, "this could be a trap."

"If the funny clothing is any indication." Snow added.

Rygdea ignored us both, and landed his airship near the train station, where normal everyday people in business suits walked out, talking on their cellphones and carrying briefcases like this was just a normal day on Cocoon.

It was bizarre. "What's going on here?" Vaan asked.

The airship door opened and one of the people in robes boarded. Tidus looked like he recognized her when she let her hood down and extremely long black braids were released down her back. "Lulu?"

"Tidus? You're alive. Is Yuna not with you?"

He shook his head, as dumbfounded as we were, "No she's not. But she's alright though. Her and Ainu. What are you doing here? And why are you dressed like a nun or something? What's going on?"

"It is difficult to explain." the woman, Lulu said.

"Try us." Rygdea commented, crossing his arms.

The intimidating woman's full purple lips frowned, but she led us out anyway. "But leave your weapons."

"Like hell I will." I said, clutching my gunblade.

"Sis..." Snow warned.

"It is part of protocol." Lulu informed.

"I don't care about any damn protocol. I don't know you. He might," I pointed to Tidus. "But I don't."

"Ma'am." Lulu looked annoyed with me, but I did not care. "I can assure you, you can trust us."

"We see Cocoon fall then get crystalized. We go in thinking we can pick up some survivors in a dead world. We come here and the power is magically back on, the fal'cie are alive, and you suddenly appear in strange white and blue robes and you want me to trust you just like that. Can you blame me for being just a bit skeptical."

The dark haired woman continued to stare me down. "I understand your mistrust. I really do. But, can you blame me for not letting you bring your weapons so that you can easily kill us. You've come here without anyone's notice, covered in grime from god knows where," Ruby scoffed once more at that, "carrying guns that I'm sure not all of you are liscenced to have. I'm skeptical too."

"You trust me, don't you." Tidus said.

Lulu looked him up and down like she just realized he was standing there. "Yes, under current circumstances."

"Oh yeah!" Tidus blurted, doing a fist pump.

Lulu sighed, shaking her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Tidus, if I allow these people...to carry their weapons, would you assure me that they won't do anything drastic."

"Oh, yeah, of course." Tidus said right off, not sounding very convincing.

"Very well." Lulu glared at me, "but keep it in it's sheath."

**General POV**

**Lake Bresha**

Sazh's group arrived at the abandoned temple in Lake Bresha. Even though it was in the early morning, it still felt like it was midnight. The sky was pitch black, and the flames were the only source of light.

"Fire?" Hope questioned when the party exited the airship. "I thought they were frozen?"

"They were frozen when we came here, the day we became L'Cie." Sazh added. "I thought they'd still be frozen for sure, since Cocoon's dead."

"But the power came back on, remember?" Terra said.

Cloud drew his sword, and the group took several cautious steps back. "Keep your weapons out. There could be enemies here."

"This temple's been abandoned for-" Hope's sentence was cut off by Cloud pointing his giant sword centimeters from his face.

"What did I say?" Cloud asked in a no nonsense tone.

"Hey!" Rinoa protested, but was held back by an aloof Squall.

Cloud ignored Rinoa and stared the fourteen year old down, who was glancing between him and the end of his sword. "I said...keep your weapons out."

He took back his sword and took point. Hope gripped the gun in his hands, his expression much more taken aback.

"What is it?" Tifa asked, seeming to know that Cloud was sensing something.

Cloud didn't say anything, "Keep your guard up." Was his only response. "We're going to cross the frozen lake, and look for your survivors."

The sky was so dark, that you couldn't see what lied beyond the well lit temple. Any monster, any creature, any enemy could be lurking within the abyss, and the party would be at a great disadvantage if they couldn't see in the dark.

And that wasn't the only problem they have experienced. Ever since they recruited Cloud and Tifa Strife, the blonde swordsman has somehow elected himself as the new party leader. If there really was a party leader, it was 'officially' Sazh since he's flying the airship. Squall has the military experience so he was sufficent in strategy.

Rinoa is a rebel leader, so she knew how to structure formations. Terra is a full L'Cie still, so her Eidolon and magic was a huge asset to the team. Hope is in charge of the potions and medicines.

But since Cloud has been the team captain, he strategized all the formations, made Tifa ration out the medicine, and put him and Squall in the front lines while the rest 'backed' them up. He called all the shots and claimed practically everything.

And they let him do this to assure him that they weren't his enemy.

But are they really his allies?

"Spread out." Cloud commanded.

"Are you crazy?" Squall finally spoke up. They have only worked together for nine hours, and his patience is already wearing thin. "We need to stick together."

"If we stick together, then anything can take us in one hit," the new leader tried to reason.

"But if we spread out, then one of our members could be terminated."

"You're a soldier, correct? You of all people should know that in order to get the job done, sacrifices need to be made."

Sazh and Terra exchanged a look having overheard their conversation. Tifa was only a few feet from them as well, and if they heard the bit then she definitely heard. Did she not care that her husband was willing to sacrifice her life to 'get the job done'?

So the group had to span at least three yards apart, relying only on their hearing and 'sensory' as Cloud called it to assure 'they don't die', also stated by their leader.

**Gran Pulse**

After Penelo's suicide, if anybody was severely traumatized, it was Serah Farron.

When Serah was talking to the blonde only a few minutes before she died, she seemed sad, but so was everyone else. But when Serah really thought about, she looked like she was already dead, like she had completely given up on survival.

Penelo suddenly stood in front of all the other survivors, putting the gun to her head and pulled the trigger. Her head splitting open from the power of the weapon, and her body crumpling within itself before dropping on the ground.

But what will always stay within Serah's mind was the sound of the gun firing, cutting through the silence.

After Serah came to, she didn't even have time to process what had happened. She found herself being startled at sudden noises, light concerned touches, and the sight of a gun.

That night she had a nightmare, she dreamed that Lightning and Snow never came back, and she and the rest of the camp died off from hunger and wild animal attacks, dehydration, disease.

What was scary about the nightmare is that it seemed to be coming true. Nobody has eaten, they are running low on water, the sick have been dying, and new people are getting sick. Serah kept thinking that it was too late, they were not going to survive.

Yuna, being the good friend she was stayed by Serah's side, letting other nurses take care of the sick. Vera also was there for Serah in her time of need when her sister and fiance' couldn't be there for her.

"We are so sorry Serah that you had to witness that." Yuna assured, carressing her long pink hair.

"I just can't believe Penelo was hurting so much that...she couldn't live anymore." Serah whispered, her eyes puffy from crying and her throat raw from screaming in terror.

Vera was holding her hand, "She must really miss her brothers. The thought of them dead."

Serah looked up at her, eyes wide in surprise. "You don't really think...they can't be..."

"I know that your sister and Snow were L'Cie, but that doesn't mean their invincible. They could be dead on Cocoon right now. How would we know? We're stuck out here."

Yuna thought of her husband, still trapped on Cocoon, his fate unknown, but stayed silent, not wanting to make Serah feel worse then she already does.

"Fool," a new voice entered the conversation, and Morrigan, who had been walking by the group and overhearing, felt like she needed to say something, "you are so hopeless. Tis only, what, day four, and you are whining like babes."

"Whining?" Vera exclaimed, jumping to her feet, "We are not wild women like you, we are city girls. We are not used to this."

"Besides," Yuna added, having been offended by Morrigan's inconsideration, "people are dying without the supplies we need. I don't think we can go a couple more days."

"That is what you think." The dark haired woman said, rubbing her pregnant belly, "But it could be worse. Your loved ones could not have went at all. Cocoon is a planet. Not a town. If you want to be reunited with your so called 'loved ones', then you will be patient and wait faithfully for them. That is what this 'love' is about, no?"

"We can wait faithfully if we were home," Vera argued, "but we're on an unexplored land. Poor Penelo was just a child. An orphaned child who lost hope in survival."

Morrigan scoffed, "She was twenty one years old. And weak."

All three of the women gasped, and this time Serah snapped, "She is dead, Morrigan!"

"And how did that happen?" Morrigan hummed for a bit, rubbing her chin pretending to be thinking hard, "oh right."

"You have no right to speak like that about her!" Yuna cried, "she was suffering terribly."

The dark haired outcast rolled her gold eyes, "Like she is the only one suffering. Last I heard, Bartholomew counted two hundred and forty five civilians who lost homes, family...should we all then be pulling the trigger and scrambling our brains, then?" Morrigan then looked down at her belly, "Hm, what is it, Urthemiel? You have to go again? Oh...you don't like the sound of their voices. Tis alright, my dear, we shall be off alone, then."

The three women watched as Morrigan went off on her own, speaking to her unborn child in a hushed mysterious tone. "She's having a child of her own and she thinks like that?" Vera asked.

"She'll be a horrible mother." Serah added.

"Poor child," Yuna said.

**Lightning POV**

**PalumPolum**

Lulu led us to where the Fal'Cie Carbuncle used to be. This was our source of food. I wondered how these people survived without this Fal'Cie.

And I found the source. They set up this area with machines, and people worked in them. It became a food production, run by people, for people.

"But I still don't get it?" Snow asked. "How did you get the power back up after only three days?"

"Cosmos." Was Lulu's answer.

We all exchanged a glance at the dark haired woman, "Cosmos?"

"Cosmos is our savior." Lulu explained, "after Cocoon's fall, all the Fal'Cies were gone. Which means the power was gone. And all our food, water, light..." She gestured toward the now working and running room. "She sensed our time of need and came to Cocoon to save us all from the apocalypse. A new era has begun. Fal'Cies no longer run our lives."

"But you let some woman do it." I replied.

Lulu's red eyes flared in anger. "How dare you speak ill of her that way! The Fal'Cie were cruel, but Cosmos has a heart of gold. When she came to us, she truly wanted to help revive our planet. She even placed a new Primarch on the Seat of Power."

"A new Primarch?" I asked.

"So she's really no different if she is putting you back in a dictatorship." Rygdea added, siding with me.

"We are not in a dictatorship," Lulu argued, "not like when Dysley was our Primarch. He happens to be a surivor, like you and I. And he used to work for the Sanctum. Vayne Solidor."

"I've heard of him." Vaan said slowly. "He's our Primarch now?"

"Is he any good?" Snow asked.

"He just think he's better then everyone else, like all officials."

Lulu let out a large huff, waving her arms as she did so, "Unbelievable. Nothing will make you happy now will it. I want you to leave."

"Wait, we're here for-" Tidus was cut off by Lulu once more.

"I do not care. As you can see, we are better off here then the monstrous world down under. Tidus, I cannot believe you left Yuna and Ainu down there. What if you get back and..." Lulu shook her head. "If you want to stay...then you are welcome as long as you accept Cosmos as your savior. If not...then you best be on your way."

Ruby right away skittered to her side. When we gave her a look she said, "What?"

"You have a son on Gran Pulse, remember?" I reminded her.

She closed her eyes, her mouth making an 'o' shape. "Right. Sorry, ma'am. As soon as I get my baby back we can come here, okay, honey?"

"No." I told her. "That is not how it works. You are being complacent."

"You are just going to fall into old habits." Snow told her. "Things need to change."

"But I don't want things to change!" Ruby cried, "things got worse when the power was out. With the power back on, I can get my shot in the acting industry again."

"Is that really worth it, doll?" Rygdea asked.

We never got her answer as a loud roar was heard outside the food production, followed by people screaming. One of the men in robes came rushing in. "One of the knights were trying to escape upon hearing of our intruders." He eyed us with disdain.

"What!" Lulu shouted, "Who?"

"Sir Reks!"

"Reks!" Vaan exclaimed, "Guys, that's my brother!"

**General POV**

**Lake Bresha**

Everyone was freezing. They have been walking across the ice, in the dark for what felt like forver. Every once in the while Sazh would ask the others if they were still keeping up, since they couldn't see if they were straying off.

The thick and eerie silence was sliced by the sound of wretched vomiting.

"Rinoa's throwing up again." Hope alerted the group.

"Rin?" Squall called back, not too sure where his poor wife was.

"Ew." Tifa grimaced, followed by the sound of sloshing. "I think I stepped in it."

"I thought I placed you between Leonhart and Branford!" Cloud barked.

"I am!" Tifa yelled back, frustrated.

"I'm over here!" Rinoa's voice echoed far off from where Tifa's voice came from.

"Then what did I just step in?" Tifa asked. A loud crack sounded off, "Whoa!"

A source of light straight ahead of them lit up, and everyone blinked harshly after being blind for over an hour and a half. They looked down...

And the once frozen lake was sheet thin. And beginning to split. Tifa backed up, seeing that she was standing directly on the crack, but the ice was already seperating and everyone one by one fell into the lake.

You could barely see under the water except for shadows, thanks to the fire up ahead. Squall was the first to resurfaced followed by Rinoa. When everyone broke through, Tifa looked around frantically for her husband.

"I'm sure he's coming up!" Sazh struggled to speak, even though everyone felt like they were being stabbed by a thousand needles.

Tifa shook violently, her long hair covering most of her face. "C-c-c-cloud c-c-c-an't...s-s-s-s-swim!" She stuttered, teeth chattering.

Everyone, although they were shaking themselves looked around for the blonde swordsman. Hope decided to brave it out and went back down under, forcing his eyes open and trying to ignore the pain.

Cloud was struggling, but not because of his lack of swimming abilities. Some sort of black smoke was latched onto his leg, dragging him deep. Hope quickly swam deeper, reaching for Cloud's arm. He forced him away from the mysterious black smoke that roared in response. Hope kept a hold of him and resurfaced, Tifa already getting ready to go save her husband.

Once air was back into his lungs he went back into leader mode, and pushed Hope off him, clearly embarassed a young teenager has saved his life.

"I-i-i-i s-s-see a cano...e!" Terra spluttered out, pointing toward the object.

"Y-y-y-you th-think it can h-hold all of us!?" Squall asked.

"We got no other ch...oice." Cloud said. "Bring it here."

Sazh and Squall broke away from the group to fetch the canoe. "I saw something down there." Hope told the others. "It looked like some sort of black smoky thing."

The women looked amongst each other, trying to figure out what it could possibly be. "You sure it was...s-s-smoky?" Tifa asked.

"I'm sure." Hope continued. "...it...was...p-p-pulling, Cloud..."

"That sounds ridiculous." Cloud stated.

Before Hope could argue back, Sazh and Squall returned the boat. Sazh smiled mischeivously at Cloud, and Squall was holding his own devious grin. "Would our great fearless leader like to go in first?"

Rinoa snorted and Terra elbowed her to shut her up. Cloud scowled at the two men, his cheeks a slight pink. "We'll help you in." Tifa offered but Cloud just flailed away from her, still embarassed.

"Hey," Sazh tried to reassure. "I was only kidding. We all got some sort of weakness." Sazh and Squall helped steady the boat while Cloud clambered in, much like a child would.

Unfortunately there was only enough room for four people without tipping the boat over.

"You can go in." Tifa offered Hope after Terra helped Rinoa in. "You look like you weigh less then I do."

Hope looked over into the boat, Terra was helping Rinoa when she looked about ready to throw up again, while Cloud stared out with a serious frown on his face, unamused. _Maybe he'd feel a little better if another guy was in the boat with him._ Hope thought.

"Don't worry about me." Tifa tried to reassure the teenager. "I'm tough."

"I don't feel right letting you swim while I'm in the boat. Don't worry Tifa, I'm an excellent swimmer."

Tifa looked like she was about to tell him once more, but then her expression softened in realization. And after one more glance at the humiliated Cloud, she lovingly pinched the boy's cheek. "You are so sweet. Such a gentleman."

Despite swimming in freezing cold ice water, Hope suddenly felt his cheeks heat up at the compliment. He knew his face was red so he quickly ducked away as the female fighter climbed into the boat.

"Which way?" Sazh asked.

Squall pointed toward where the new source of light was coming from.

**Gran Pulse**

Serah screamed once more, and this time it was Bartholomew that pulled her close trying to calm her down.

"What is that?" One of the PSICOM asked reaching out to it.

"Don't touch it!" Another said.

"This here is a cieth stone." Dalan informed the remaining party, bending over to examine the writing.

"I-it just appeared." Serah stuttered, tears streaming down her face. Bartholomew ushered her over to Yuna and returned to Dalan's side.

"What does it say?"

"I do not know." He said. "It is in a language I do not understand. This is what happens to a cieth after a long time."

"They turn to stone?" Bartholomew repeated the question, but didn't expect an answer in return.

Dalan turned back around, facing the survivors's leader. "Be grateful that your son never became a cieth."

"If he's still alive. It has been three days. I know Cocoon is a large continent and there is no way they can explore every inch. But..." His sentence trailed off when he continued staring at the Cocoon. "Is it just or me...or does it look like...?"

Cocoon, which originally looked dark and empty was now split into two colors. The north side was blue while the south was red. "Oh. Curious." Dalan mumbled in awe.

"What is going on there?" Bartholomew questioned, his mind still on his only child that was still within. "Ah...Hope..."

**Lightning's POV**

**PalumPolum**

The monster was in the Agora and appeared to be a blue subjugator. The only one facing it off was a man in white and blue armor, and he notably looked alot like Vaan. I assumed him to be his brother.

We all drew our weapons (except for Ruby who once again fled the scene), and Snow, Rygdea, Tidus and I waved our arms and shot our guns trying to get it's attention. Vaan came to his older brother's aid.

The Subjugator was finally provoked and directed it's attention on us. It swiped at us, but we were able to evade it's swing. Snow casted ice magic on it, pummeling it with his fists while doing so. I thought about his raw hand, and from the way his teeth were barred in a long grimace, it must still hurt.

I switched my gunblade into blade mode and jumped up to battle the creature.

I saw from the corner of my eye it's tail lighting up with bolts of electricity. "Duck!" I called down to the brothers. The Subjugator turned suddenly and I was thrown along with him and he smashed it's tail onto the ground. Reks and Vaan jumped in different directions.

The older brother drew his own sword and grabbed onto the tail. When he was close enough he stabbed the right side of it's wing, making him hang in the air awkwardly with his one good wing. "Vaan!" he called down, "you and the others keep him busy."

When I was about to protest, he just nodded his head, demanding me to suddenly trust him. Since I had no other choice and we were the only ones airbourne, and grabbed his offered hand and shook it firmly.

When the Subjugator used it's tail again, Snow and Tidus were thrown back a few feet, leaving only Vaan shooting at it. Reks and I fought in the air for the time before the Subjugator finally was able to grab hold of Reks. I quickly stabbed it's hand freeing him, and the two of us landed on the ground, him not so agily.

Rygdea was suddenly thrown back by the Subjugator's tail, hurtling in Ruby's direction. She squeaked, diving away from Rygdea's and his back landed hard against a railing. He hollered in pain. The actress rushed to his side, hovering over him for a bit before calling back to us,

"I think he broke his back!"

"No shit!" Tidus hollered back to her,.

It was then I suddenly felt the familiar electricity flow through my veins and my arms suddenly shot out in front of me with streams of lightning magic. It shocked the Subjugator, and when I realized I regained my magical abilities, I enhanced my blade with the magic.

I let out a battle cry and charged toward the towering monster, leaped up and sliced the giant creature in half. I jumped back down to my feet just as I heard a slow applause.

I turned around and standing next to Lulu was a tall woman with long curly blonde hair and wearing a dazzling white and gold gown. "I am impressed." She said.

I blew my breath, knowing exactly who she was: Cosmos.

Her description fit her. She was Goddess-like. With a soft face, a melodic voice, and what appeared to be alot of patience.

Snow threw the unconcious Rygdea over his shoulder, in case we were going to have to bolt. And Reks and Vaan finally had their reunion, as they hugged it out. It reminded me of my reunion with Serah.

"Is Penelo with you?" He asked his younger brother.

"No. She's on Gran Pulse. She's with other survivors." Vaan explained.

"Survivors?" Cosmos questioned.

"Yeah," I filled her in, "while everyone here is shockingly returning back to normalcy, there are hundreds of people struggling to survive on Gran Pulse."

"Right." She whispered, her voice breathy. "I assume you did not wish to join us."

"No. We came here looking for more survivors to take to Pulse. Our people are suffering and we also have come for supplies."

"If it is supplies you want. Then supplies you shall have."

"Wait," Tidus interupted. "You're just going to give us supplies just like that. After we badmouthed you and stuff."

Shut. Up.

Cosmos, instead of flaring up in anger or something like one would expect, she smiled and let out a laugh that was similar to that of windchimes. "You wish to experience a new way of life. A different scenery. How can I deny you that?"

"This doesn't upset?" Reks questioned, "I thought you didn't want me to go. That's why you called the monster."

"I called the Subjugator to test your strength. If you are going to reside in the world down below, then you are going to have to be ready to battle the beasts that are your neighbors. I will aid you with supplies, we have plenty of it. But first," She glanced towards Rygdea, "Your companion will need to recover before we head to Eden."

"Eden?" I questioned.

"Eden, once a metropolis in the sky, is now closer to PalumPolum. That is where the Primarch reigns, and where more of the people live in harmony. As well as your friends." She looked over at Snow, and it took him a few moments to realize who she was referring.

In his excitement he dropped Rygdea, letting him fall with a thud on the ground, and Tidus had to rush to the unconcious man to make sure he didn't receive a concussion from the drop. Snow without even realizing what he was doing grabbed a hold of Cosmos's hands (a collective gasp erupting from her people) "You mean Gadot! And Lebreau! Yuj, Maqui they're alive!"

Cosmos smiled warmly at him once more, "Of course, child. They have been a great assistance in our-oh!" Snow picked the Goddess-woman up in his giant arms and proceeded to give her a bone crushing hug. I couldn't even hide the smirk when I saw one of the women in robes faint in shock.

"You have no idea how happy those news were to me!" he exclaimed.

"I am happy that you are happy." Cosmos said, but a few seconds after she stopped talking he was still embracing her. "You can put me down now, dear."

"Oh, right!" Snow set her back down on her feet and stepped back sheepishly. "Sorry. Got a little carried away there. So what are we waiting for? Let's help Rygdea and get NORA back together!"

**General POV**

**Lake Bresha**

When the canoe finally made it to shore, The men in the lake were shaking and pale, ice was beginning to form in their hair and eyelashes. Rinoa rushed to her husband side and tried to warm Squall up by rubbing her hands vigorously on eighter side of his arms. Though it didn't do much, Squall appreciating the thought quickly kissed her on the lips, not caring if anyone watched.

In fact they weren't, because they were more focused on the cold. Sazh lit his hands up with a fireball and everyone gravitated toward him, trying to keep warm. "This feels so good." Terra whispered, curling up to Sazh.

When Tifa tried again to speak to Cloud, he just marched off on his own. _He just needs some space._ The dark haired fighter thought with a sigh, her eyes casting down on the teenager who was now icy after sacrificing the comfort of the canoe for her.

Tifa sat down next to the teenager, wrapping her arm around Hope like she usually does to Denzel and Marlene. "Hey, how are you holding up?"

Hope struggled to smile, but his lips were stiff and a pale blue. "Still alive." He tried to laugh but it came off in a sort of cough. He scooched closer to Sazh.

"I'm sorry...um..." Tifa struggled for his name, realizing she never knew it.

Hope chuckled, "Hope."

"Hope?" She repeated, "such a pretty name."

"It's girly."

"Maybe," she leaned in so only Hope would hear, "but so is 'Cloud'."

Hope laughed again, rubbing his arms for warmth.

"Aah!" A man's bloodcurdleing scream interupted the silence. Cloud who was itching for something to kill drew his sword and followed the noise.

Sazh groaned, and put out his fireball. The group followed Cloud where a bunch of PSICOM soldiers were laying around, dead and mutilated. A pantheron was mawing down a still alive PSICOM officer, and it was Rinoa who shot it down.

When the creature fell, Terra kicked it away from the PSICOM officer and ripped off his helmet.

"Shit." Squall muttered when he saw who it was.

"Son!" The PSICOM officer called out.

"He's your dad?" Hope asked Squall.

"Sadly, yes. Out of all people."

"Laguna!" Rinoa dropped her gun and ran for a hug when she stopped, seeing that his leg was cut off. "Oh!" She turned away and threw up.

"Yeah. About my leg. I can't seem to find it."

"Your leg is _gone_ and your _joking_ about it!" Squall yelled, storming towards the PSICOM officer.

"This is **not** a joke. It hurts. Like...**alot**." Laguna told his son, "you have no idea how long I've been sitting here. I'm used to the pain now. I'm surprised I am not dead."

"What's even keeping you alive?" Hope questioned, kneeling toward.

"Hell should I know? But you know what they say 'Keep Calm and the pain numbs.' "

"You just made that up." Squall accused.

"Of course I did. Cause it's not true and the potions are starting to wear off! Can you get me out of here, I am freezing!"

"I'll row you back to the airship." Sazh volunteered helping Laguna up.

"I'll go with you." Tifa also offered, supporting his right. "You guys wait here. And be careful."

**Lightning's POV**

**PalumPolum**

Rygdea was taken to a healing room, with Ruby at his side for some reason. The rest of us were seated at Cosmos's dining table and were served my first hot meal since during the L'Cie chase when we rendevous at Felix Heights. Bartholomew cooked and well, he's a better economist than a cook.

But this meal was prepared by a chef, and I couldn't recall the last time I ate at a real restaraunt. Probably when I was a young teenager.

But I also felt guilty that we were eating well while Serah and the other survivors were starving. And the other half of the scouting team.

Then we were offered a bottle of wine. My weakness. Alcohol.

For that moment I forgot about feeling guilty and gulped my glass down. Snow, Vaan, Tidus, and Reks stared at me in surprise at my obvious joy for the wine. I cleared my throat, feeling embarrassed. Reks took Ruby's untouched plate.

"I'm gonna go see if your friend is hungry." He said, excusing himself from the table.

Vaan watched his older brother leave before returning to his meal. "What?" he said, and I realized I had been staring at him.

"Nothing." I quickly said, and Tidus snorted into his wine. "I mean, I know how it feels to have been away from your sibling, not knowing if they will ever come back to you alive. And then seeing them..." I trailed off and for the second time I felt embarassed at letting my emotions show.

Vaan didn't laugh at me like Snow and Tidus were, he just smiled. "Penelo's going to be so happy to see us." He said, shoveling another forkful of food into his mouth.

"Well," Snow set down his fork having finished his third serving. "Once Rygdea is well enough to move we'll continue to Eden, get my crew back, and our supplies," He patted Tidus on the back, "and we'll get you back home to your wife and son."

"Yeah." Tidus said, a soft smile on his face, "God, I miss them."

Reks returned, the plate still in his hand, and his face wiped away of any expression. "I thought you were giving Ruby her food." Vaan asked.

"Uh..." The older brother looked down like he just remembered he was carrying the plate.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Uh..." he said again. "I don't think we have to wait that much longer for Rygdea to recover."

"What are you talking about?" Tidus asked.

Reks took his seat again, then covered his face, whimpering a bit. "I just saw them."

We stared at him. "And?" Snow coaxed.

The older brother looked up between his fingers, "They were doing it."

We continued to gawk until it finally sunk in. Vaan dropped his fork first. "I just lost my appetite."

"Wait," Snow (always late) had finally pieced it together. "They are getting it in, _here_."

"That's it, I'm done." I said, setting my own fork down and Tidus followed suit. Cosmos returned to the dining room and after a moment of examining our sudden repulsed behavior she said;

"I've just checked up on your friends upon hearing a scream-"

We all groaned and covered our faces.

**General POV**

**Lake Bresha**

Sazh and Tifa rowed the canoe all the way back to where the temple was, and while making their way to the airship, Sazh tried to make conversation with Laguna. "So, Laguna I heard Rinoa call you?"

"That's my name." Laguna confirmed, and from his speech you wouldn't think he was going through any pain at all. Maybe the cold numbed him. But how did he remain alive?

"What's the deal between you and Squall? Not meaning to pry, but if Squall has a disdain with you and decides..."

"Yeah, you are prying." Laguna said, "but don't worry, I'm sure we'll be getting to know one another, so...you'd probably hear it eventually." Tifa pulled away from Laguna to open the airship. "Speaking of people I'd like to get to know..."

Sazh rose an eyebrow at him. "Um, she's married. And aren't you like over twenty years older then her."

"Hey, for your information I'm only forty nine."

Sazh grinned, "You lying son of a bitch."

Laguna laughed. "Fine, fine. But you have to admit. Her legs. And..." He cupped his free hand and gestured to his chest. Sazh only shook his head at him.

After Sazh helped Laguna inside, they were setting course back to where the others were when the airship was attacked by a giant black widow the size of the airship. It seemed to have leaped from nowhere and jumped onto the ship. While Sazh was trying to regain control of the airship before they fell into the water, Tifa grabbed two of the guns, handing one of them to Laguna.

The female fighter kicked the airship door opened, struggling to keep herself inside the airship and started shooting at the giant bug, Laguna shooting at it from the floor.

"What is that?" Rinoa pointed at the airship.

"They're in trouble!" Squall shouted, grabbing his gun. "We gotta swim out there!"

"But Cloud can't swim!" Terra reminded the group and Cloud grunted in renewed humiliation.

"We're going." Clous ordered.

"What?" Hope asked. "But-"

"We're going." He repeated.

So everyone reentered the ice cold water, with Cloud flailing close to them. They didn't see the dark figure who has been watching them since they arrived in amusement. He rose his arms and the lake began to stir.

"What the hell?" Squall said, the lightning struck in the sky. "A storm!"

"If it's not one thing..." Terra muttered, then was pulled underwater. She resurfaced quickly, "Something's got-" then she was pulled roughly back down.

"Terra!" Rinoa cried out.

"It's the black smoke!" Hope said.

Squall dove into the water, and Hope was in fact right. A black cloud had engulfed Terra's leg, pulling her down like it did with Cloud earliar that day. Squall thought that Terra would use her 'L'Cie powers' to get herself out of trouble, but the black smoke was beginning to swallow her up and she reached for Squall to help her.

For the first time, Squall didn't see Terra as a L'Cie, but another human being, and swam down deeper to save her.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Cloud leaned heavily on Rinoa. He then saw something horrific happening. "The Lake is refreezing!"

"What?!" Hope exclaimed. "Oh, this **cannot** be happening! We gotta get out of the water!"

"But Squall! And Terra!" Rinoa was roughly pulled away by Hope and Cloud. "No!"

Tifa saw the team swimming toward them, and the water freezing. "Oh...shit!"

Sazh looked in the same direction, and searched frantically for a rope of some sort. Laguna found it and tossed it to Sazh, who lowered it down for the others to grab hold of.

Squall finally shook Terra away from black cloud and when the two tried to resurface, they were blocked by a thick layer of ice. Terra felt around and saw an opening, grabbing a hold of Squall's hand and swimming to their exit.

On the surface, Cloud was climbing the rope, desperate to get out the water. The Black Widow circled the airship to try and get in from the other side. Laguna whimpered, scooting away from that wall. Rinoa and Hope were starting to climb the rope, and the Black Widow appeared from underneath the airship and was trying to grab Hope.

In an attempt to lean away from it, he lost his grip and was about to plummet back into the water when Rinoa grabbed Hope's hand and made him go over her into the airship. The Black Widow lunged and clamped hard on her leg.

She let out a scream, and the others tried to help her up. The Black Widow's tug was weighing the airship down and they were close to crashing into the freezing water."I'm sorry, guys. Tell Squall I love him."

"No!" Hope screamed, but Rinoa had already let go, falling into the water.

Squall and Terra resurfaced from the opposite side of the airship. "There's the rope!" Squall rushed Terra toward it.

"They took down the spider." She also informed Squall, grabbing hold of the rope.

Tifa had to pull the crying Hope back, who was about to jump in after her.

"The rope's moving!" Sazh told Cloud.

The blonde swordsman looked over and swallowed hard. "It's Terra...and Squall."

Laguna looked up, a strange emotion crossing his expression. Terra made it first, Squall following after. As soon as the man climbed in, Sazh quickly escaped Lake Bresha before it was too late. The Lake freezing once more.

The dark figure watched the airship leave and returned to the shadows.

Everyone was silent, and Laguna watched his son scan the airship. "Everyone alright?" Squall asked.

Nobody answered, and Squall's face got stiff. "Where's Rinoa?"

The silence continued. "I said where is she!?" He tried again, but he looked like he already knew the answer. No one dared say anything. "Take us back...I said take us back! She's still there!"

"No!" Sazh yelled, he barked, clenching his fists. When he looked at Squall's face, he wanted to cry himself.

He looked absolutely heartbroken, that the love of his life was gone. Squall closed up, and didn't even breathe, before he punched the side of the airship, the sound making Terra jump.

Laguna spoke up, "Squall..."

"Shut up!" He yelled, his eyes filled with tears. "Shut...up..." He leaned his back against the side of the airship and slid down into a sitting position, his knees up. He covered his face with his hands and his shoulders began to shake, as he cried quietly.

Everyone else remained silent, and Hope watched the man mourn, feeling responsible for Rinoa's death.


	5. Guilt, Health, and Puppies

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Lightning's POV**

**PalumPolum**

After dinner, Cosmos insisted that we stay the night at her palace, and offered us each our own guest bedroom, including our own bathrooms and a set of pajamas. Of course I tried talking her and everyone else out of it upon hearing Rygdea was alot better, (since he seemed to have plenty of enery to exert on Ruby).

But still, somehow I found myself retiring for the night. My mind was back on Gran Pulse with Serah as I thought about the sick and starving survivors after we had been gone for this long. But I was still shedding off my dirty and crusty Guardian Corps uniform, handing them over to one of Cosmos's maids.

My mind then wandered to the other group, wondering if they are receiving similar special treatment from probably the Primarch himself. Unfortunately my guilt at the idea they probably haven't even met any civilization, yet didn't stop me from stepping into the pristine and clean shower, letting the steaming hot water massage my back.

While everyone on Gran Pulse were relying on rivers, I was sudsing up in strawberry scented soap and shampoo.

While everyone has been in the same clothes for four days straight, I was given white and blue robes until my clothes are washed.

It was three in the morning, and I continued to lay in the much too soft bed, staring up at the unbelievably tall bedroom ceiling, worried of what has become of the people we have parted and left behind. How many people were dying right now, while I was enjoying this one time luxry that I haven't even experienced when I was much younger.

I threw the thick silk covers off my body and climbed out of bed, my barefeet landing on the soft gold carpet. Why the hell is everything soft!

I pressed my hand on the blue door and it opened with a loud whooshing sound. I winced, expecting somebody to be standing guard and lecturing me for leaving my room. But the halls were empty.

I grabbed my gunblade that was propped against the wall by the exit, surprised nobody has collected it yet. My feet felt icy cold against the linoleum floor, wondering why the robes didn't come with slippers.

I felt weird in the enormous robes that hung too loose against my body, and I was slightly reminded of the large t-shirts my dad would make me and Serah sometimes wear when my mother didn't do the laundrey when I was a child.

The halls were much too big, and I felt my soldier senses heightening, and my hands twitching around my gunblade.

I navigated through the halls quietly trying not to make any sudden movements. And I think I spent a good half hour exploring Cosmos's palace, expecting at any moment to hear some sort of alarm.

What I was surprised of was when I got downstairs to see Snow sitting on the bottom steps, also dressed in robes, only it looked too snug and was not touching the floor, even higher with the way he was sitting. He was also not wearing any shoes.

If it weren't for his large stature I wouldn't have recognized him since he was not wearing his bandana on his head.

"Hey." I greeted him.

He looked up at me, like I had distracted him from his thoughts. Then he grinned seeing me in the robes. "Can't sleep eighter." He stated.

"No." I confirmed, sitting opposite of him.

"Thinking of Serah?" He continued.

I sighed, even though we don't see eye to eye, Snow and I both have one thing in common. Our love for Serah. "Yeah."

"I feel guilty too." He rubbed the back of his head, looking down at the floor, "That we're livin' it up, while people are...suffering so bad. I can't imagine what they are going through right now. Without the supplies."

"Tommorrow is going to be the last day." I told him. "Cosmos will take us to Eden, give us what we need, we can grab your friends then by then we'll rally the other team and get off of Cocoon."

"Then what?"

"What do you mean then what?"

"What do we do after this? Is Gran Pulse really where we want to live?"

I stared up at Snow. "Why? You want to stay here?"

"Cocoon is safe. There's a new Primarch, a better one that Cosmos has appointed. There's a chance at normalcy here."

"What are you thinking Snow?" I wasn't mad. I really wanted to know where he was going with this.

"I mean...I was thinking, instead of getting supplies, we just ask Cosmos to help get the survivors here. Then we can live here, back at home."

"Snow...it's not that simple-"

"Of course it is, we can move back to Bodhum. Serah and I can get married, have kids, live in a nice house, I can quit NORA and get a real job-"

"Wait," I cut Snow off, "You'd...really quit your team for Serah."

"I love her, Sis. And she is miserable without us with her. We can start over in Bodhum. We can be...a normal family..." He trailed off, his face falling, like he was realizing exactly what he was saying. "Nevermind. That sounds really stupid."

I sighed again, rubbing my forhead, and we sat in silence for a time while I processed everything he said.

It would be better wouldn't it? It's obvious from what we have seen. Cosmos came during our time of need and restarted Cocoon. Created a new one, with a new Primarch.

Serah had always wanted peace. Snow wants Serah to be happy, as do I. Sazh and his son could also go back to Bodhum, and go about their lives, with Sazh raising his son like he had always had been.

Hope and Bartholomew could come here to PalumPolum and Bartholomew could work for the new Primarch, Hope can go back to school and become a doctor like he had always wanted.

But I knew...and Snow realized this too, that there is no way things could truly be peaceful. Cosmos may have the right idea, but I have still to meet this Primarch. And I haven't seen what the rest of this new world is right. We need to go to Eden first.

Perhaps NORA could give us insight, they have seen the transformation firsthand.

"It doesn't matter what we do." Snow said, "All I want is to make your sister happy. When we get back to Gran Pulse...we'll figure something out then. But I just need to be with her. Be by her side, and help her through this. She's going through this alone right now."

"We should go to Oerba." I considered. "Fang and Vanille's home. I think it's suitable, right?"

Snow finally smiled, clapping me on the back, "Yeah. Fang and Vanille would have wanted that. We can make a home there. Me, Serah, our kids...and you."

I cleared my throat in embarressment. "I'm going back to bed," I muttered, standing back up, "Why didn't Cosmos give us any slippers." I complained, trying to change the subject.

"Or underwear..." Snow laughed. "Unless..." he eyed me, "Are you wearing underwear, Sis?"

I narrowed my eyes at him but he just continued laughing, "now your're getting too chummy with me. Good night Snow."

**General POV**

**Bodhum**

Squall had locked himself away from the others after what had happened in Lake Bresha, and nobody dared disturb him. Not even his own father, who still remained on the floor, his skin shining with sweat and his temperature increasing. All those potions were starting to wear off and Laguna was now living on borrowed time. Not unless they can properly tend his wound and bandage it.

Tifa knelt over and dabbed at Laguna face with a dirty spare rag that was found on the airship. "How much longer until Bodhum, we need these supplies fast. And some medicine for this guy."

Laguna chuckled painfully, "it's not...that bad. Whoo, I'm tired..."

The door opened and everybody held their breath and stared as Squall reentered, his eyes noticeably red and blotchy, but his face held the usually stoic expression. "Hey, son." Laguna greeted.

Squall didn't answer, instead just blew an exhausted breath, sinking back onto the floor. Terra approached him, "Did you need anything Squall-" She gasped when he held up a hand.

He looked up at her, his eyes hard. "Don't speak to me."

"Squall, It wasn't her fault." Hope tried to explain.

"Oh yes it is. You could have gotten out of that water by yourself. You are a L'Cie aren't you! Couldn't you have summoned your beast to spring you out of trouble. But no, you had to play the victim!"

"I was not playing a victim!" Terra shouted back, angry. "What happened to Rinoa was terrible. But you saving me from that black smoke didn't cost her life."

"It was that Black Widow." Cloud added, still standing off into the corner.

"But if I had been there..." Squall trailed off, "Whatever. Just leave me alone."

Terra cooled down as well, and sat back down next to Hope. "Holy hell..." Sazh's voice suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" Cloud asked, walking over to where Sazh was and peering through the window.

"Where are we?" Hope asked.

"Home." Sazh answered. "We're in Bodhum."

But the seaside town was no longer the bright and sunny vacation hot spot it was once known for. The sky, once a clear blue, was blazing red. And the calm and steady ocean was erratic and waves swept up over the town. The town was mostly on fire.

And men in black and red armor were fighting against what was left of the Guardian Corps.

"Just can't catch a break, can we?" Sazh groaned, as he landed in the sand.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Terra asked.

Laguna began coughing violently, hunched over as he did it. "Well for one," Sazh said, "some of us have to stay with Laguna. I'll stay since I'm the only one who can fly this airship, in case something else happens."

"You should also stay." Tifa said.

"I can fight, too." Hope protested.

"I was actually talking to Terra." Tifa corrected.

The girl mentioned looked at Tifa like she just suggested the most stupidest idea yet. "What? Why?"

"Easy." The female fighter began, "Cloud and Squall are soldiers. Hope has the medicine. And I'm a martial artist."

"I'm good with a sword." Terra told her, but the female fighter didn't look convinced. The L'Cie blew her breath, her bangs flying as she did it. "Fine. I'll hold off any enemies that might try and ambush us."

"I knew you'd understand." Tifa smiled before jogging after the boys, Terra's face fell when she was out of sight.

"She pretty much said she was stronger then me." Terra complained to the older men.

Sazh just shrugged, not wanting to get involved in girl rivalries. "She's not stronger then you," Laguna tried to cheer up. "She's hotter then you though."

Terra narrowed her eyes at him, "Thanks." she grumbled, drawing her sword and looking out the window.

Meanwhile, the field team were discussing strategy. While Squall was in the middle of mourning, Cloud once again stepped in as team leader. "We'll split up, Tifa and I will go to the Guardian Corps Head Quarters to pick up weapons and armor while Squall and Hope will go to the hospital and get all the medicines, bandages, etc. There should be food and water in those places as well. Let's try to get in and out before we are caught up. Fight whoever gets in the way. No side trips."

Tifa rasied her hand, "Actually, can we change it up a bit."

Cloud raised an eyebrow at her request. "What do you mean change it up? This is a warzone."

"I mean the party. Squall and I can go to the Guardian Corps HeadQuarters, while you and Hope go to the Hospital."

Cloud stared at Tifa like she just grew a second head. "No. _We're_, going to the Head Quarters."

"No..." Tifa corrected and began to talk to Cloud like he was a child, "_we are._" She gestured toward her and Squall. "Okay. Let's go." She grabbed Squall's arm and not caring who went where with who, followed her.

"Tifa!" Cloud tried calling to her but she wasn't turning back. "Tifa! Shit!" He looked down at Hope, which made the teenager nervous.

"Uh...so we're going to the Hospital?" he asked.

Cloud groaned.

**Gran Pulse**

The survivors had made it to The Faultwarrens. Though they were mostly away from the sun, that didn't cease their hunger and sickness. People were also becoming more hostile to each other, blaming the volunteers for leaving them in their time of need.

Bartholomew tried to calm the raging survivors, but they began to turn more against him, calling him a horrible leader.

Though it shouldn't bother him that strangers thought of him as an enemy, he was used to citizens getting aggressive, but not when they were all that he had left. And if he failed them too...then what would he do?

The others have not yet returned, his son hasn't returned. He tried to reason that it would take days for them to look for surivors and supplies, but as a father, his worry was beginning to increase till all hope was lost.

They were probably dead, or trapped. Or just...gone. Disapeared. Maybe it was the hunger talking, or he was sick. Or maybe just going mad.

Serah, Vera, and Yuna were also beginning to turn against him. Serah screamed and cried every night from the nightmares she had endured, and every time she was frightened, all eyes turned to Bartholomew accusingly. Yuna no longer conversed with Bartholomew and every time he tried to check up on the patients she would purse her lips and blatantly ignore him.

Vera was more vocal, down right spatting at his name, calling him a politican. Useless, uncaring, those were the most common accusations he heard from her that actually were relevant. Though he can easily disregard "male" and "old" and "one tracked mind" because he had no idea what she was talking about when she said things like that.

So the only people that he would speak to would be Old Dalan, a trusted elder who has been tracking down the hours, the days, and would give wise advice that would enlighten him. And sometimes he would tell stories of all the things he had seen in his life. He was well liked by the children.

Morrigan, who was shunned by most of the survivors for her odd prescence. Being thrown out of a planet and still having a plenty healthy baby growing inside her belly seemed to have made people suspicous. But yet again, how could anyone survive being thrown out of Cocoon? She also distanced herself from people, often making cynical remarks that would mostly offend people. But she was honest.

And the children, who are still naive and innocent would often times wander over to Bartholomew asking alot of random questions like "What came first the chocobo or the egg?" or "how many words are there?" Bartholomew wondered how the children could still be so energetic, but prayed that they can stay like this just a little longer.

Lady luck wasn't on their side, he decided when while the children were running around and playing tag, Marlene suddenly collapsed. Serah screamed, obviously in a panic, while Vera called for Yuna.

Morrigan was actually the one who ran towards the younger girl, her hand brushing away her bangs.

"What are you doing?" Yuna asked in exasperation when she finally arrived at the scene.

Marlene's eyes fluttered back open, appearing to only have awakened from a nap. "She is alright." Morrigan assured the survivors, "tis just exertion."

Bartholomew watched Morrigan sneak away from the women beginning to crowd around Marlene, asking if she was alright. Maybe it wasn't the Goddess Etro that were keeping the children perfectly healthy, when they would logically be deprived of even moving.

It was a certain dark haired woman, with an air of mystery surrounding her.

After the women finally let Marlene be, her friends replaced them, difference being they gave her room to breathe. "You sure you're alright Marlene?" Dajh asked.

"Yeah." She answered. "I don't know what happened."

"Are you sick?" Ainu asked, feeling her forhead.

"No." Marlene answered shaking her head. "Though maybe we should rest."

"Good idea. Hey, let's go over there." Harry suggested, leading the band of kids, "Old Dalan says that a Fal'Cie used to be here. And he lived like a Primarch."

"Cool." Ainu added.

Dajh looked over at Marlene who's eyes were faraway and sad. "Do you miss your brother?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry about what happened to him." Ainu said. "He probably would have loved this huh?"

Marlene continued to look downward towards her feet. "He wouldn't have lived that long. He was already really sick, even before Cocoon's Fall."

_The Day of Cocoon's Fall_

_"Hey," Tifa and Marlene entered the full bar, as the other children greeted their foster mother._

_"Did you get us anything Tifa?" One of the kids asked._

_"No, it's for Denzel." The kids chorused in disapointed aws. "Don't 'aw', Denzel is very sick right now. And as a family we need to hope that he gets better alright?" She gave the bag to Marlene and walked up the stairs to the boys room._

_Denzel was tucked in deep in the covers, a washcloth over his forhead. When he saw Tifa come in, he propped his pillow up and got into a sitting position. "Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked him, combing through his hair._

_"The fever's gone, but my head still hurts." He informed her. She pouted._

_"You hungry?" She asked, poking at his stomach making him laugh. He nodded his head, "Good, cause tonight I am making your favorite."_

_"Jambalaya!" He said in a happy tone. She nodded, humming in confirmation. He gave her a big hug then she kissed his forhead._

_"It was actually Marlene who suggested we make it for you tonight. She's getting the ingredients out now..." Her eyes then landed on his bedside table in front of the picture of his real parents, a new bottle of 'remedy'. "How did you get this? Did one of the kids..."_

_"Cloud did." He answered like it was a normal thing._

_She looked at him, her eyes wide with shock, "Cloud? He was here?"_

_"Yeah. He stopped by to drop offf some medicine a while ago. Then he left."_

_Tifa didn't say anything for a long time, and just stared at the bottle, and then around the room like she just realized where she was for the first time. "I'll be right back." She left Denzel's room, grabbing her potions bag on the way out the door. "Gloria, you're in charge!"_

_"Tifa?" Marlene called from the kitchen. She raced out, running into the teenager Tifa had just placed the authority over to, "where'd she go?"_

_"I dunno." She shrugged, turning up her music on her portable device._

_Marlene decided that Tifa must have just forgotten something at the supermarket and decided to get started on the jumbalaya without her. All the other kids were crowded around the television watching two of the boys play a videogame while the eldest, Gloria was lounging, taking up a whole couch, listening to her music and not paying attention to the kids._

_When Marlene got done making the jumbalaya, she realized that Tifa had still not returned. "Where's Tifa?" Marlene asked Gloria._

_The teenager didn't respond, too engrossed her music and singing along to the words. Marlene called her again but she still was not listening, and she realized her eyes were closed. She pulled the headphones out of her ears. "Hey!" She yelled, snatching it back._

_"Where's Tifa, did she never come home?"_

_"No!" Gloria barked back._

_The others kids had already stopped their game and was watching tv. with a bored expression. "__**We interupt this program to bring you urgent news!**__" The newscaster said on the telvision screen._

_Marlene glanced over ad saw what looked like a giant tortoise wreaking havoc over Eden. The kids sounded amazed at the sight of the great beast. "__**The L'Cie have returned to Cocoon, and they brought along pulsian beasts. They are invading our home.**__"_

_Eden...isn't that where Cloud was? Marlene thought to herself. She scurried to the kitchen and dialed Cloud's cellphone number. Like usual he didn't answer. "Cloud! It's Marlene please pick up! I need to know you are alright!-"_

_The call was interupted by another call. Marlene answered. "Hello?"_

_"Marlene, it's Tifa."_

_"Tifa! Where are you?" She asked._

_"I'm on my way to Eden. I'm going to see Cloud."_

_"What! Tifa you can't go!"_

_"What?"_

_"You can't go!"_

_"I can't hear you! You're breaking up. Hello? Marlene!" The phone line died._

_Marlene slammed the phone. She ran back to the living room. "Guys we have to go!"_

_"What, why?" One of the boys asked._

_"It's Tifa! And Cloud they are in danger!"_

_"What do you mean they are in danger? Cloud and Tifa can handle themselves." Another boy argued._

_"Guys!" Marlene stood in front of the tv. "I'm serious, they are in danger!"_

_"Whatever, Marlene. Be a good little girl and go save 'mommy' and 'daddy'." One of the girls spat, making the other kids laugh._

_Marlene looked at them all in disgust. "I cannot believe you. After everything Cloud and Tifa have done for you, you won't give anything in return. Fine! I'll go get them myself!"_

_She stormed out of the house, slamming the door._

_Only a few minutes later did Denzel wake up and head downstairs. He entered the kitchen and the kids were all helping themselves to the jambalaya. "Thanks for waking me up guys, appreciate it." Denzel said sarcastically, grabbing his own bowl and sighed when he saw they only left him about two spoonfuls of his favorite meal. He looked at the table and saw that Tifa and Marlene were not present._

_"Where's Tifa and Marlene?" Denzel asked._

_"Tifa left for...something. Then Marlene just left." Gloria muttered before eating more of the jambalaya._

_"Why did Marlene leave?" Denzel pressed._

_"Because we were watching the news about an invasion on Eden, and I guess Marlene thinks Cloud and Tifa are in danger and she just left to stop them. Don't worry, she'll come back."_

_Denzel rolled his eyes at the kids nochalant attitude and rushed upstairs to change. When he came back down he sprinted to the door. "Hey, Denzel, are you going to have any?"_

_Slam!_

_"More for me."_

_Denzel found Marlene being forced onto an airship. "Hey, what's going on?" Denzel asked._

_"Denzel!" Marlene cried, "Cocoon's falling!"_

_"What?" He asked not quite understanding what she meant. "What do you mean it's falling?" _

_But the boy couldn't even hear the answer because shortly after he began to sink to the ground, coughing. "Denzel!" Marlene cried. "My brother! He's sick! Somebody help him!"_

**Lightning's POV**

**Eden**

The next morning, Cosmos sent her maids to return our clothes, now clean and patched. She treated us to breakfast (which I ate greedily), then the rest of the party followed her to the train station.

I noticed this train was different then the others, it was of course a shining white, with blue glowing lights along the sides of it and windows. The inside was also blue.

"Wow!" Ruby cried out making me wince. She skipped into the train, dragging Rygdea along with her. "Ain't it a pretty little car?"

"I think they call it a train, doll." Rygdea corrected her, yanking on her arm and pulling her close to him. The two locked lips once more and we all groaned.

"Can we keep the PDA to a minimum please?" Reks begged.

"Yeah, we just ate." Tidus added.

"Can't handle the love," Rygdea whispered into Ruby's ear, "We'll sit in the back."

Ruby let out a very shrill giggle before following Rygdea to the back of the train car. He sat down then she jumped right into his lap and they continued their makeout session.

Snow plopped down into one of the seats, taking up the entire space, "I'm going to take a quick nap." He claimed, lowering his bandana so it was covering his eyes.

Vaan and Reks took another seat, while I sat in the seat across from Snow towards the window. I thought to probably taking Snow's idea and try to catch up on the sleep I lost. We're heading to Eden now, which means we are going back to Serah, _today_.

"So, Lightning." Tidus stupidly occupied the seat next to me, and was sitting much too close to me. I considered kicking him off since out of all seats he decided to sit next to me. "Have you met my wife?"

"No, Tidus, I didn't." I answered, looking back out the window and watching the tunnel walls passing me by.

"Well, you'd like her. She's real pretty, and nice, and good, and smart, and pretty, and a good mother, and a good wife, and pretty-"

"Hey, Tidus, do you mind...not talking so much?" I asked trying to use my 'polite voice' that Sazh trained me to use while on our L'Cie adventures.

Tidus nodded, seeming to have understood. But as soon as I turned back toward the window he started talking again. "Have I ever told you how Yuna and I met? I was at a Blitzball game, in Bodhum, and I get this really bad head injury, so I get rushed to the hospital after the game, and I meet Yuna, she was all sweaty after just working on a bunch of patients, but she still looked beautiful to me..."

I tuned out Tidus's excessive talking and closed my eyes, picturing Serah's smiling face.

When we finally arrived to Eden, everything wasn't all good like I thought it would be. There were black smokes flying all over the city, a distant evil laugh echoing throughout, and the clear blue sky was polluted and smoky red from a large fire overhead.

"We're in trouble!" Cosmos exclaimed, exiting her own private car, and we all grabbed our weapons following her.

When we exited the car, men in black and red armor were flying towards us. They paused for a moment and stared at us. They pointed at us. "That's them! They are the L'Cie!"

"L'Cie?" Snow asked. Suddenly my chest burned and I felt like somebody just took a knife, stuck it where my L'Cie brand once was, and turned it. Snow also cried out, grasping his wrist.

"What is this!?" I cried.

Memories flashed through me. Fal'Cie Anima, getting branded, Odin, Barthandelus, Raines, Fang and Vanille. And then I saw myself, but my skin was blue and appeared to be made out of rock. My eyes were gold, the whites black. My hair was falling off. My deformed self crouched into a position, growling from it's lips before it jumped onto me, hands ready to claw me.

I opened my eyes, and Cosmos was hovering over me. Snow was also being helped up by Reks and Vaan. "What happened?"

But my question went unanswered as citizens were suddenly transformed into cieth.

"What's going on!?" Ruby cried, holding onto Rygdea.

"No time!" Cosmos said. "We need to get your supplies and find your friends."

"What?" Snow cried, "What about you, and your people?"

"You need to get home. We'll take care of things from here!" Cosmos assured.

"We'll split up." I commanded. "Snow," I pointed to my future brother in law, "you take Tidus and Vaan and find your friends! Rygdea, Reks, and I will get the supplies. Cosmos, take us to it."

Cosmos nodded, nudging Ruby away from Rygdea so she was out of harm's way. "Stay with me, dear, now let us go!"

**General POV**

**Bodhum**

Terra was working her healing magic in Laguna, who was still in terrible condition, as to be expected of a man who just lost his leg. "The magic won't be much. Not without a way to properly disinfect and handle." She told Sazh.

Sazh swore under his breath, his eyes on the fuel monitor, "we're running low on fuel."

"How are we gonna get out of Cocoon?" She asked.

"They better find some extra fuel. Otherwise we're stuck."

Meanwhile, Cloud and Hope were already at the Hospital. The silver haired teen gasped, ducking behind an alleyway. "Did you find something?" Cloud asked him.

The blonde almost dropped his sword when he saw Hope retrieve a rather large, slow, and obviously sick white wolfhound. Hope was scratching behind it's ears in comfort.

"No." Cloud barked at him, "we're not keeping him."

"But, Cloud, he's sick. I can't just leave him here for those evil men in armor to kill him."

"You can't pick up every stray you see, and we can't afford another mouth to feed. We already have over two hundred people back on Pulse."

"_Gran_ Pulse." Hope corrected, stroking the dog's dirty fur.

"Whatever, leave him." Cloud lifted his giant sword and broke the glass to the Hospital.

Squall and Tifa were already fighting their way through the Guardian Corps, taking two duffel bags and stuffing them with whatever food and water was in stock. It was a bit of trouble to open the weaponary, since it was hidden behind a steel door. And before Tifa broke her leg trying to kick open the door, Squall was able to hack the system.

Using a third duffel bag they loaded it up with various guns and weapons. Squall headed straight to his locker. Pulling out a long black case. "What's in there?" Tifa asked, standing over him as he knelt down to open the case.

Inside was was a slick silver blade, in a shape of a revolver, with a black hilt and a chain hanging off it with an image of a roaring lion. "This is the first ever model of the gunblade." He told her.

"Your weapon of choice? Looks pretty neat."

"There are numerous models, but only three Guardian Corps soldiers are liscenced for one. I was the first soldier to receive one, only for a field test, but I had become really good with it unlike other soldiers. There was only one other at the time, and that was Seifer Almasy. His was a pistol.

Now there's one more, who has the privelage to wield the latest model. Lightning Farron, one of the survivors. I could have the same weapon as her...but I just couldn't part with my revolver."

Tifa snorted, flipping her long dark hair, "a man and his weapon, you sound just like Cloud. Come on, let's get out of here before we cause more trouble. I need to see my kids."

Cloud and Hope had taken some old baby bags, and used those to collect more food and medicine. When they were sure they were ready to go, they heard the heavy clanking of armor enter the Hospital. Cloud handed Hope the bags and drew his buster sword. "Go out through the back."

"What?" Hope loudly whispered and Cloud had to hush him. "What about you?"

"Just get to the damn airship. I'll meet you there!"

"I can't just leave you here!"

"Just do it." Cloud ordered. For a split second Hope was reminded of Light. He nodded silently and snuck through the exit.

Hope looked both ways, debating which side was safest to leave. The entrance was in the left direction, so it might be safer on the right. Hope adjusted his bags and realized he left his gun with Cloud. "Aw, crap." He spat, stomping his foot. He drew his boomerang getting ready to throw at any moment.

When he turned the corner, he saw even more men in black armor conversing. He shuffled away, deciding to take the opposite route, but one of the men was already heading in Hope's direction. "Hey, we got another!" He yelled.

The men that were conversing charged toward the silver haired teen. He threw his boomerang and one of the men drew his large sword, slicing the boomerang in half. Hope gasped and tried to run, but the one man caught Hope, pinning him against a wall.

This gave Hope a good view at the left route, and he saw at least three dead puppies laying lifeless on the ground. Hope fought the urge to vomit at what the monsters have done to innocent animals.

"He's a L'Cie, boys." He sneered, "cut off his wrist and show the boss."

Hope tried to push the men off of him, even more franticaly when the same man that destroyed his weapon lifted that same sword, aiming for his flailing hand. That man was then tackled by a large white wolfhound.

The same one Hope found before they entered the hospital. The dog was stabbed by the man but it continued to shove off the helmet and maw at his face.

Two of the men fled, not wanting to be next, and the one pinning Hope to the wall let go and kicked the large hound to the side. The dog began to throw up poisoned blood. Hope quickly grabbed the sword that was laying next to him, surprised he was able to lift the heavy item, and pierced the abuser through his armor.

He let out a pained howl before falling limply next to the dying hound. Hope hurried to his savior, but the dog was running out of time. It's tired eyes stared up blankly into Hope's, and then he heard a whimper from what sounded like a puppy.

Hidden underneath the dumpster was a white runt. And Hope realized that this large wolfhound was actually a mother.

The silver haired teen was reminded of him and his mother, how she gave her life to spare her son's. The wolfhound mother let out a final breath before shutting her eyes for good.

Cloud was navigating his way through the hospital, attempting to make his escape through where he and Hope previously came from. A man in black and red armor was investigating the break in, and Cloud was preparing for a preemptive strike.

Two more men ran into the Hospital, appearing to have just been in a scuffle. "What's wrong with you?" The first man asked.

"It's Will and probably Andy. They were killed by a wolf!" The other cried.

"You pussies!" He barked back, "don't let no little animal scare you off!"

This was the perfect time to ambush them, and just when Cloud was getting ready to pounce, he heard was sounded like a machine gun rev up. The men in armor heard it too, and behind Cloud, somebody was firing up taking down the men in armor. The machine gun wielder let out a battle cry as he did so and Cloud froze upon realizing who it was.

He slowly turned around, and upon seeing him quickly equippd his sword and saluted. "Sir! You're still alive, sir!"

Amodar rolled his eyes upon seeing his soldier salute. "At ease soldier." He ordered, "if I can even still call you that. If the world hadn't gone to hell I would have fired your ass! Why did you never come into work?" Cloud was getting ready to make up an excuse but Amodar cut him off, "nevermind, I don't have time for bullshit. Are there others with you?"

"Yes, my wife and Commander Leonhart. And a retired soldier named Sazh Katzroy. There are also two more civilians, but I am just listing off who is with us. I have yet to see other survivors."

Amodar let out a tired sigh. A tired, miserable one. But he kept up his fascade. "Well, what are we waitin' for? Take me to your squad, boy."

**Eden**

Snow, Tidus, and Vaan fought through an endless sea of cieth all the way to the old abandoned Gran Prix Circuit. And once there they ran into four humans, fighting off the cieth on hoverbikes.

"Guys!" Snow exclaimed.

Gadot was the first one to notice. "Boss! Guys, he's alive!"

"Let's take them out first!" Snow told his team and they all got ready for battle.

The rebel leader jumped up, icing over his fist getting ready for a hit. "Here it comes!" He said, and he smashed his fist into the metal ground. The circuit cracked and bent making the cieth fall flat on their faces, and some rolled over unable to stop themselves.

Vaan slid across the slick and icy surface that Snow created and began taking down cieth like a figure skater. "Whoo hoo!" He cheered, spinning around and slicing one cieth in half.

Tidus was a little less coordinated on the ice, but still kept up the pace. He launched one particularly bigger cieth into the air and was reminded of one of his game plans. Snow helped boost Tidus up with an "allie oop!" And Tidus was thrown up into the air, turned upside down like he was getting ready to kick a ball.

But instead he took his sword and sliced the cieth from the bottom up into two halves.

"Nice!" Gadot said impressed. "Get them, girl!" he told Lebreau who was sitting behind him.

Lebreau, the only girl on Team NORA aimed her rifle down below and made sure that nobody was in the way before she started firing, letting out a deep bellowing battle cry. "Die, bastartds!" She hollered.

"She's so hot when she's killing things," Yuj commented, while driving the second hoverbike.

"Watch out!" Maqui cried, and the two almost hit Tidus who was still fighting in the air. "Sorry!" The youngest member in NORA apologized, lifting up his goggles to see where they were going.

"Get them, Maqui! Get them!"

"I'm going I'm going. Just don't try and get us killed next time."

Snow managed to finish off the last wave of cieth, and once they were sure they were safe, Gadot and Yuj landed on the ground. Lebreau was the first one to run to Snow, pulling him into a hug. "Oh my gosh, we thought you were dead."

"Ditto." Snow said.

"Is Serah with you?" She asked.

"She's on Gran Pulse. She's alive though."

"What the hell is she doing down there?" Lebreau didn't get her question answered because Gadot was already pulling Snow into a bone crushing bro hug.

"Where the hell have you been, Boss?"

"Yeah," Maqui said, scampering toward the rebel leader, "Since we all thought you were dead, Gadot's been taking charge."

"And he's an awful leader." Yuj added.

Gadot's eye flared in anger and he let go of Snow to get into Yuj's face, "The fuck you just say? Boy, if it weren't for me, I would have left your ass to get butt raped by those guys in armor."

Tidus cleared his throat, feeling awkward.

"Oh," Snow said in realization. "Guys, this is Tidus and Vaan, they are also survivors. This is Team NORA: Gadot, Lebreau, Yuj, and Maqui."

The two parties greeted each other, welcomingly. "Geez, Snow," Lebreau continued, "it's so bad here. First it was a blackout, then this woman with gold hair comes and gives us this new Primarch. Everything was good."

"But then this black smoke came," Yuj said, "and people were turning back into those monsters."

"We need to get out of here." Lebreau told the trio.

"Lightning and some more survivors are getting supplies, then we can go to Gran Pulse." Snow assured the group.

"We're going to Pulse?" Maqui asked, shocked.

"With Lightning?" Gadot added.

"First of all," Snow said, "It's _Gran_ Pulse. Second of all what's wrong with Lightning?"

The four looked at each other like Snow just said 'What's wrong with eating moogles?'. "Uh," Gadot started, "She's a bitch."

"Gadot!" Snow gasped.

"What, she is. Have you forgotten she's the same woman who chased you down Bodhum Beach shooting her gunblade at you when she found out you were doing her sister. The same chick who literaly walked into Lebreau's bar and pointed at each of us saying 'You're a dumbass, you're a dumbass, you're a dumb bimbo, you're a _real_ dumbass, and you're a fuckin' dumbass.' "

"She was drunk." Snow tried to defend his future sister in law.

"And the time she punched Yuj in the face when he walked in on her in the changing room at the mall, when he **worked** there!"

"She didn't know Yuj was gay." Snow winced, "Sorry, Yuj."

The blue haired man just shrugged, putting a hand on his hip.

"Look," Snow tried to reason, "Lightning is different now. We settled our differences and she is actually a good person at heart. Sure she's distant, stuck up, and arrogant, but she's kind of gotta be that way. Can we just all get along?"

"Fine." Lebreau said, "we'll play nice if she does."

**Lightning POV**

"Come on!" I yelled at Reks, "Hurry up, Cosmos is waiting with the airship!"

Reks picked up what had fell out of the supply bag and scurried after Rydea and I. We exited Eden Hall just as Cosmos landed the airship. Ruby opened the door.

"Darlin' you're alive!" She cried like a leading female in a western film.

Rygdea grinned stupidly and I shoved him forward, "Hurry up before eighter the cieth or the army attacks us."

I made Ruby help load up the airship, and I was pretty please with how much stock we took. It could last us a month until we can establish a home on Gran Pulse.

"Now you have to pick up the others." Cosmos said exiting the airship.

"You're not coming with us?" Reks asked.

"My place is here on Cocoon. I need to help my people." She told us.

I understood her and closed the door. She watched us fly away. We looked for a sign of eighter Snow, Tidus, or Vaan and we finally found them crossing the Skywalk.

Ruby opened the door before we could even land it, "Howdy boys! We got our stuff, are these your friends?"

Gadot and Snow let Lebreau enter the airship first, "Pleased to meet you, I'm Lebreau," the female rebel greeted.

"I'm Ruby, like the pretty pink gemstone." The actress introduced. "Who's this cutie patootie?"

"I'm Maqui." The teenager introduced himself, shyly.

"Aw, aren't you a sweet little thing. Don't worry, I don't bite."

Maqui blushed, taking a seat away from her.

"I'm Yuj, nice rack."

"Wow." I said, this guy really doesn't waste any time, does he?

"You don't sugar coat nothin'." Ruby laughed.

"She single?" Gadot asked Snow.

"I think she's with Rygdea."

"Damn."

"She's also a mother."

"Oh, okay, I'm good then." Snow laughed at his bestfriend's response and punched him in the arm. Lebreau rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, and I assumed she must have really missed her leader.

After everyone got the introductions out the way, Rygdea took control of the airship again. "Alright, folks. Time to go home."

"Oh, I can see my baby!" Ruby cooed.

"Penelo's going to happy to see us!" Vaan told his older brother.

Tidus smiled, obviously thinking of his wife and son.

But before the airship could leave it shook violently. "Sorry, y'all. Just some turbulence." Rygdea tried assuring us. But the airship shook violently once more. "Or not!"

"It's the black smoke!" Maqui exclaimed. We all crowded around the availiable windows, and saw that the airship was being engulfed by a large black cloud. The inside went dark.

"**I am Chaos**." A deep evil voice said. "**This is the end**."

"Rygdea get us out of here!" I ordered.

"You think I'm not trying?" He asked me, and I got up from my seat and took the controls away from him.

"Try harder!" I yelled, forcing us out of the black smoke.

"Hey, lady, you trying to get us killed!?" Ruby crowed.

"Stop, damn!" Lebreau also exclaimed.

"Sis, please, you're gonna make things worse!" Snow added.

But I ignored them all and I was able to get us through and opening. "Get us out, **now**!" I repeated.

"Aye, aye, ma'am!" Rygdea said.

**General POV**

**Bodhum**

Laguna was beginning to scream now, the pain becoming too unbearable.

"Laguna please hang in there!" Terra told him.

"Damn it, where are they?" Sazh complained, "we wait any longer something is bound to-"

The first people to make it back was Squall and Tifa, carrying duffel bags. "They're coming!" Laguna moaned, falling in and out of conciousness.

The two jumped aboard and Tifa knelt next to Laguna, "He doesn't look good. Is Cloud and Hope not back with the medicine?"

Suddenly Hope jumped on, hunched over and plopped the baby bags by Terra, who quickly rifled through them. "Where's Cloud?" Tifa asked.

But Hope didn't answer and just locked himself away in the other room.

"Is he hurt?" Sazh asked. "We gotta get going."

"We can't leave without Cloud!" Tifa yelled.

But Sazh ignored her, starting up the airship, "We're gonna have to leave him behind."

"No!" Tifa screamed getting ready to jump eighter to attack Sazh or off the airship. Squall and Terra both tried to hold the struggling Tifa back who was trying to wriggle free. Hope returned and upon seeing how preoccupied everyone else was, quickly tended to Laguna's injuries.

Hope was able to access his healing ability, and decided to wonder how this happened after he saved this man's life.

"**Oh! There he is!**" Tifa screamed, but the airship was already taking off. "**Stop! Cloud!**"

Cloud saw that the group was getting ready to take off, then heard a loud roar behind him and his lieutenant. "It's that black smoke!" He told him.

"Mother of God!" Amodar exclaimed when he looked back. "Hold up!" he ran ahead of Cloud and jumped up.

Squall threw Tifa, along with Terra to the side which also knocked Sazh over making the airship lean over. Hope slipped and kept Laguna from falling out the open door. Then the other room's door opened and a small white puppy slid out looking bewildered of it's surroundings.

Laguna opened his eyes and saw this. "What? Dog?"

Amodar jumped up, weighing the airship down more. Sazh quickly regained control of the airship and elevated them upright. Amodar rolled onto his back right on top of Laguna's only leg.

"Ow..." Laguna groaned weakly as Hope tried to heal him and bandage him.

"**Cloud!**" Tifa shouted again, standing over Amodar. The blonde swordsman jumped up and Tifa grabbed a hold of Cloud's hand. Terra helped Tifa pull her husband up and as soon as he was inside, Squall shut the door.

Sazh took off before the black smoke, Chaos, could catch up with them. "Phew. That was close." Sazh sighed.

"Arf!" The runt barked in agreement. Everyone stared at the seemingly random puppy that occupied the airship.

"What's with the puppy?" Squall asked.

Cloud glared at Hope who smiled sheepishly.

**Gran Pulse**

Morrigan was the one that saw what was happening to Cocoon, and she thought to point it out to the rest of the survivors.

"No..." Bartholomew whispered, his thoughts on his lost son, as everyone watched Chaos invade the planet.

Serah gasped, holding onto the older man. "Snow..." She cried.

"Wait! Up there!" Yuna exclaimed pointing in the sky closer to them.

"It's them!" Dajh said. "Daddy's back!"

The two airships were heading toward the Faultwarrens, one much faster then the other. That was when Bartholomew realized...

"Get out of the way! One of the airships is crashing!"

Old Dalan and Morrigan helped gather the children while everyone else panicked trying to get out of the line of destruction.

The airship crashed hard on the ground skidding towards the survivors, finally stopping just a few feet away. Dirt was everywhere.

"No!" Serah cried.

**AN: So that wraps up the Cocoon Exploration arc. Now the group has to get to Oerba.**


	6. Wyverns and Boomerangs

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: There is a small flashback that is from my other work "Filling in Blanks". Just in case you read that one and feel like 'Did I read this before?'.**

**Lightning's POV**

Ruby gasped behind me as we all watched Sazh's airship crash into Gran Pulse. Barely a few feet away from where Serah and the others were. We landed close behind them and exited, rushing to the wreck to make sure both the occupants in the airship and the survivors were unharmed.

Serah was the first to notice us coming their way and despite the tragedy, smiled a grateful smile. She pulled away from the crowd and ran towards my direction. I was ready to catch her embrace...

...until she passed right by me towards Snow who caught her and spun her around. I dropped my arms, praying to whatever god that was out there that nobody had saw that. "My baby!" Ruby cried breaking through my sister and future brother in law and running towards her son.

A little dark haired kid's eyes widened at the sight of the busty woman, and looked about ready to cry. "Mama!" He hollered, letting his mother bombard him with kisses.

"Ainu!" Tidus called out to another boy that was standing next to Ruby's son.

"Dad!" He called out, his mother staring straight at him like she just saw a ghost. Tidus picked his son up as his wife automatically walked towards him, tears streaming and a smile stretching across her face as the three engaged in a family embrace, the married couple kissing.

I also noticed that Ruby and Serah were crying as well to see their loved ones.

Vaan and Reks looked around for Penelo, who may be lost in the crowd still gathered around the airship...

...my heart stuttered. Sazh and Hope were in there!

I saw Bartholomew order someone to help open the airship, obviously trying to keep his emotions in check before the other survivors. Snow let go of Serah, along with Tidus, and Vaan and Reks haulted their search for Penelo to help open the airship and help our friends out.

The first to come out was a little white puppy, with big green eyes.

It was utterly random and everyone stared at the animal bewildered as it leaped down, stared up at us, let out a terrified whimper, and proceeded to relieve itself in front of us all.

The little girl that I met before we left knelt down and coddled the puppy, reassuring it.

Then, a woman in her early thirties with long black hair wearing a white cropped top and black leather mini skirt came out. She was assisting a man who I thought was Squall at first glance, but his hair was too long, and he looked much older like he could pass for his father.

I noticed that he was missing a leg, not an injury that was caused from the airship crash, since it was already neatly bandaged. The little girl gave the puppy to Ruby's son and called out to the woman. "Tifa!" She screamed.

Tifa looked up at her, looking like she was about to cry in happiness as well. Perhaps she was the girl's mother.

Terra and Hope were the next ones out, and Bartholomew quickly pulled his son out of the door, giving him a big fatherly hug. Terra looked up at me and we exchanged a mutual nod. Hope pulled away from his father and saw the little puppy in Harry's arms, "There you are, Viride!" He said, taking the runt from the little boy.

I was about to ask him where on Cocoon did he find a dog, and why he brought it with him in the first place, when Sazh's voice suddenly answered for us. "Yeah, your boy found a little puppy and decided to keep him."

"Her." Hope corrected.

"Daddy!" Dajh exclaimed running to his father who picked him up and placed him on his shoulders once more, the chocobo chick leaving Dajh's afro and entering Sazh's.

My blood ran cold when I saw a familiar face standing next to him, and my soldier training kicked in real fast as I snapped my heels together, stood back straight, and saluted, "Lieutenant." I greeted, acting as if I was not completely stunned that my superior was one of the survivors.

I really thought I would never see him again after the last time we spoke, right before the Purge.

_I threw my head back as I took another swig of my drink._

_"Farron?" I heard my Lieutenant ask me._

_I gave him a tired look, I didn't even have the energy to salute. This wasn't even from exhaustion but from absolute depression and misery. I was lost. I didn't know what to do anymore._

_"You're early." He said. "Happy Birthday to you." Lieutenant Amodar sat in the stool next to me._

_Happy Birthday to me. "Thank you."_

_"You are the only person I know who would look downright misearable on her own birthday. What happened with your plans with Serah?"_

_I couldn't tell him. "She...I messed up."_

_He squinted at me, trying to decipher my words. He didn't say anything. "You want me to take you home?"_

_"...yes please."_

_I was lost. Confused. Dazed. I don't even remember the car ride home. I just remember arriving at my house, and the Lieutenant patting me on my head, like he used to when I was younger. "Thank you." I said mechanically, exiting the car._

_"Farron." he called out to me from the window. "Take care of yourself."_

_I saluted. He drove off._

_And that was the last time I saw him._

I had blatantly ignored him after he warned me, the day of the fireworks display to not get involved in the Pulse Vestige. But Serah had been in trouble. And I had quit my job for her. Should I even salute, I'm no longer a solder.

But the strangest thing happened. Amodar didn't look angry, he didn't look disapointed. He didn't even chuckle and roll his eyes saying 'At ease, Farron.' like he has been saying for _years_.

He looked...stunned. And that made me nervous. But then a really big smile, a sad smile not the usually humorous one. This was the look I had expected Serah to give me. "Farron...thank the Maker you're alive." He was walking fast toward me and pulled me into a hug.

I had not expected this at all.

And I was sure I looked like a dear in headlights right now, I couldn't even hug him back I was still not really registering that my Lieutenant was actually hugging me. (Also he has my arms trapped and I didn't dare push him off). He pulled away seeming embarassed.

"Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you. I just really didn't think you were alive, after all that's happened."

"Where's Rinoa?" Bartholomew asked as Squall and a Guardian Corps soldier I've seen at Head Quarters but never knew the name were the last to exit.

Squall's eyes lowered, and his expression hardened. "She's dead."

Guilt wrecked my body. That overexcited, rebellious, and feisty wife of his who wanted to fight along side him, had lost her life. I was angry at myself. I didn't know why, but I felt like it was my fault that she came along.

Then Bartholomew opened his mouth. "We lost some people too. Denzel and Penelo."

"No..." Marlene's mother, Tifa gasped, covering her mouth. The Guardian Corps soldier looked like a truck hit him, he looked stunned.

I remembered Denzel being that sick kid that Hope had helped when we first crashed.

"They were killed in an adamantoise attack."

"Wait-" A tall blonde woman was about to say something, but a pregnant woman with dark hair and cat eyes covered her mouth. I tried to ignore them.

"Damn it." Vaan swore, as Reks looked more angry than sad.

"We may have lost people," Bartholomew began, "but we can save the rest of us if we can get to the home of your crystalized friends. Oerba Village."

"So that's where you were going?" Sazh asked. "It all makes sense why you didn't stay."

"I really am sorry we weren't here when it happened." Snow apologized.

Later that night, after we finally fed the hungry and given the nurse, Yuna the proper medicines and aids for the injured and sick, Sazh, Rygdea, Vaan, and Maqui worked together to try and fix Sazh's airship so we could keeping going and bring our handicapped with us.

So we had to set up camp here in the Faultwarrens, luckily, Titan still seemed to be gone, and there were no immediete fiends.

I approached Snow and Serah, hoping to apologize properly to my little sister. Snow was the first to notice me, waving hugely at me. "Hey, Sis, no need to say anything, I know you want me gone."

"What?" Serah exclaimed, worried, "Where are you going?"

"Just gonna go help Gadot or Maqui with somethin'. Let you have your sister-sister time." he winked at us before leaving.

Serah stared at him, sadly. "Serah," I began, "I am so sorry for everything that has happened while we were gone. I really thought you were safe. Forgive me."

Serah smiled, "You are forgiven. I missed you." She said, hugging me. "So, anything happen while you were gone?"

I blew my breath tiredly. We then sat down while I told her everything. I told her about the succubuses, and the fal'cie, and Cosmos, and Chaos. I just said things as they came to mind. I told her about how close Snow and I gotten, knowing she will be pleased. I even told her what he had told me, promising her not to tell him.

I talked about Rygdea and Ruby, on how they remind me of a sappy couple from a romance movie. She thought it was really adorable. I told her about how Vaan annoyed me at first but then really pulled himself together, after we found his brother. I took time to tell her how much I could relate to Reks since we're both the eldest siblings and how awful I feel for him after hearing what had happened to Penelo. And how it would be absolutely awful without Serah.

She smiled and giggled. "You like Reks." She cooed.

"What? No! I can relate to him because we're both eldest siblings."

"Hm-hm. It's okay Claire. He's really cute."

"Shut up." I muttered, play hitting her.

"Ow!" She squealed, hitting me back, not hurting me much. "I am so happy for Yuna. I'm so glad you found her husband. She was always so quiet without him. Now that he's back, she seems much happier."

"I'm sure." I responded.

"You really need to get a boyfriend Claire. You never had one growing up."

"You know me, I never needed a man to make me happy." I explained.

"That's what you think." She said. "You need somebody in your heart. Somebody intimate. Someone you can pour your heart to, someone to protect you, someone who will love you unconditionally." She continued to ramble in her usualy girly way that reminded me of when we were little.

Serah let out a romantic sigh. "Unless, you know...you're not into men..."

I pushed her slightly, grunting in playful annoyance.

"I'm gonna go and see Snow now," She said getting up, "I'm glad we had this conversation, Claire." and then she left just like that.

I felt awkward being left like that after our talk. It was like, for that moment I wasn't Sergeant Lightning, ex-Guardian Corps soldier, ex-L'Cie. I was just Claire Farron. Serah's older sister.

And Serah was my little baby sister that I used to spend hours with, joking around, playing, doing things. But then, just like that she went right back to being soon to be married Serah. Future Serah Villiers. And I was back to being...just...Lightning.

"Hey!" I heard an unfamiliar voice calling me out, rudely might I add. It was that blonde woman that Serah was talking to.

"Who are you?" I asked, standing up, dusting grass off the back of my shorts.

"Vera. I'm friends with your sister. You're Claire?"

"Only my sister can call me Claire...I go by Lightning."

She put her hands up in mock offense. "_Excuse_ me." She said. I already didn't like her. And I didn't like the idea of Serah getting close to this woman. "You know, you should feel ashamed of yourself."

"Excuse me?" I repeated her earliar words. Who the hell did she think she was talking to me in such a degrading tone.

"You _and_ her fiance' left her by herself. You don't feel guilty at all? Snow is her fiance' so he kinda has to fight in her honor. But you...you were supposed to be the one by her side. Now I had to do it."

"What? Who the hell said that was your job. I know what type of person you are? You're just nosy. Well listen, I don't need this. We don't ever have to speak to one another."

"You are very disrespectful to your civilians. And you call yourself a soldier?"

"I was a soldier." I turned on my heel and walked away.

I tried to calm my anger by finding something to do. I looked around the camp, watching as everyone did their own thing. Snow and Serah were nowhere in sight, and I tried not to worry so much about that.

I then saw Hope sitting cross legged on the ground trying to put together his broken boomerang with tape. His runt barking like a happy puppy next to him. I approached him. "What happened to your boomerang?"

"It broke." He said, still concentrated on trying to tape it back up.

"Yes...I can see that it's broken." I answered, he looked up at me and I just smirked at him. He looked back down embarrassed.

"Sorry, didn't mean to sound rude. One of those men in black armor sliced it. Like it was butter." He said the last part disapointed, then glanced down at the puppy.

"Why did you bring that dog with you? You know you're responsible for him-"

"She. She is a she." He corrected me once more, setting down his boomerang and scooping the puppy in his arms. "her name's Viride. Her mother...saved my life."

"So you feel you are giving back by taking care of her baby. So the mother's..."

"Dead." He said, stroking the runt's short white fur. "Seeing that wolfhound give her life to protect her one surviving baby and me, a potential caregiver...it reminded me alot of how my mom died."

I remained silent, knowing that Hope was opening himself up a little more.

He looked up at me and laughed. "Sorry, didn't mean to get like that. Anyways, how are you and Serah now? I sensed something was wrong between the two of you before we left and when we got back."

"Yeah...but we're good now."

"Glad to hear it. So you will have alot more girltime with your sister. I'm sure you're tired of being with just us guys."

I rolled my eyes, flicking his forhead, "now when did I ever give you the impression I was into girly things."

He laughed, rubbing the spot I hit him, "you know what I mean. Okay, does 'sisterly' time sound better."

"Much."

"Maybe if you have even more spare time, you can help me train more. Until I can...fix this boomerang." He picked up his boomerang and tried throwing it.

Instead of going in the route he wanted (or even coming back) it hit Vaan in the back of his head. He picked up the boomerang, glanced at us and waved it.

"Um, sorry!" Hope apologized.

I patted his back reassuringly, leaving him to his work. The Lieutenant sat off by himself, a really strange behavior for him. I approached him. "Sir?"

I saw him rub at his face then look behind him at me. His face was still moist and I realized he had been crying. "Farron. How's it going?"

"Permission to sit, sir."

"Farron, the Guardian Corps is basically dispersed. As much as you are not a Sergeant, I am not your Lieutenant. Just call me Amodar."

"I don't think I can, sir." I spent six years addressing him as Lieutenant and Sir. Serah even had a hard time addressing me as Lightning, that's why she's the only one that still calls me by my real name. A name is a really hard name to start calling people by. Last names are fine, but a name you address someone everyday for years.

Lieutenant Amodar, Guardian Corps or not, will always be Lieutenant Amodar to me.

"Well, at least drop the sir. Just say 'okay' or 'alright' or somethin' else."

"Yes, sir- I mean, okay." I stuttered, taking a seat next to him. The Lieutenant is the only man still who can successfully make me feel like an idiot after a conversation without even trying.

"We've been through alot Farron." Amodar said, "out of all my soldiers I trained and ordered around, I think you were the only I was closest to."

"Thank you..." I said, awkwardly.

"Farron...I need you to reveal something very personal about yourself. Something that you usually never tell people."

That was the oddest requst I've ever heard the Lieutenant ask, and for as long as I've know him he's asked for alot of things. But this made me slightly uncomfortable. "Why?" I asked.

"Because I want to get something off my chest, and I don't think I can unless you reveal something. Anything."

I suddenly felt nervous. What was he going with this? What did he have to tell me? "I don't know what I should say." I admitted.

"I'll help you then." He said, "First, I promise I won't tell anyone as long as you don't tell anyone. What is said between us, stays between us in confidentiality. Alright? Okay...here's a question. Start from here. Why did you not listen to me at the fireworks festival. What was it that ruined your birthday, then made you quit your job to join the Purge the very next day?"

Didn't he know? It was on the news...he looked at me expectantly, face guarded. He did know.

He just wants me to say it myself.

Damn it.

"After the fireworks festival, Serah cooked me a big breakfast on my birthday..."

_"Happy birthday, Claire!" Serah exclaimed, kissing my cheek._

_I rubbed my eyes, knowing my hair was resembling a chocobo's nest. But I smiled anyway. "Hey, smells good."_

_Serah sat me down in front of a large plate of pancakes with strawberry syrup, scrambled eggs with cheese, buttered toast with strawberry jam, and three sausages. It looked delicious._

_But my appetite was ruined when a certain dumb oaf entered my house. "Ugh," I groaned. "What are you doing here?"_

_"Hey, Sis. That's a nice look for you."_

_Embarrassed that Serah's stupid fiance' saw my hair a mess, wearing a big white dingy t-shirt and boxer shorts, I took my plate and rounded the kitchen table ducking to cover myself. "I am not your sister." I mumbled._

_He smirked that stupid smirk and Serah re-entered the kitchen and stared at Snow like he wasn't supposed to be here...which he wasn't. It was __**my**__ birthday._

_"Snow, you weren't supposed to be here yet, I wanted to to wait til she was finished eating."_

_"What?" I said. I dropped my fork, not caring that my face was stuffed with pancakes. "Can someone please tell me what's going on? Serah, why is this ogre here on __**my**__ birthday at nine in the morning. I can only take in so much stupid."_

_"Actually, Sis, we have some news for you."_

_"Serah, Snow's not my entertainment, is he? I don't need a giant gorilla monkey to dance for me."_

_"Actually, C-Lightning." Serah said, going to Snow's side. "I do have some good news and bad news."_

_"What's the bad news." I said._

_Her face fell. "You don't want to hear the good news?"_

_"No." I replied._

_"We're gettin' married!" Snow exclaimed._

_Thank the Maker I wasn't drinking my coffee already. I did almost choke on my eggs however. Once I was able to swallow the food down and take in the news._

_Snow was marrying my little sister. = _

_My little sister gets taken away from me. + _

_Kids. Snow's kids. Kids with Snow's head, voice, personality. Their going to want to be a hero and steal away somebody else's little sister-_

_"What's the good news?"_

_"That was the good news."_

_"There's worse!" I exclaimed, pushing my plate away. "Fine...let me have it."_

_Serah actually looked terrified about this one. Snow began unbandaging her arm, and I was about to flip at the thought she got a tattoo-until I saw the L'Cie brand._

_I didn't believe her. I believed she was making up an excuse to quit school and run away with Snow. And I thought it was petty of her to do so. I hated Snow even more. Then I heard the news of the Pulse Vestige, about how Serah was the one that was inside curious then was branded. And it was too late. I looked everywhere for her, hating myself for not believing her._

_I thought Serah hated me. _

_Then I see Snow, trudging through the beach, looking like a lost puppy. I charged towards him. "Where's Serah?" I demanded._

_He didn't give me attitude like I thought he would. But he also looked like he didn't want to be near me. "The Fal'Cie...it has her captive."_

_I went to the bar to drink, since I was old enough now, because I felt like I had failed the only family I had left. I lost my sister to a Fal'Cie. It was my fault. When Amodar showed up, I only barely remembered him offering the other day to take me out a for a drink for my birthday._

_I almost spilled it then. To him about how I felt about the situation. That was when I realized, I really did need somebody else._

_The next day, ignoring my hangover I boarded the Purge train, sacrificing my job for Serah._

_I find her...and she crystalizes. I thought I lost her for good. A part of me was empty, the entire journey._

_Fang and Vanille, good friends I made during my adventure sacrificed themselves for Serah to wake up and be free._

_Then I fail her again. I am a horrible sister._

Amodar watched me as I poured my heart out, confiding in him in all my insecurities about my relationship with my little sister. As soon as I told him I was done...

...he cried. "They're dead." He said. "They're dead."

He didn't have to tell me who. I already figured it out by then. His wife and eleven year old son. I met them only a few times. And it hurt to see my superior so broken. That was all the family he had. His son was just a child.

He couldn't control it then, and began to sob into his hands. "I failed them, Farron. I promised I would keep them safe."

I patted his back, and I don't remember how long we stayed like that.

But after Amodar let out a good cry for just me to see, he picked himself right back up, thanking me for being there.

The next day I seeked out Gadot and Maqui, needless to say they were surprised that I even thought about coming to them for anything. I was already aware of the bad reputation I had with NORA. Not that it matters.

I showed them my sketch. Their suspicions quickly faded when they saw my design. "Impressive." Maqui whispered, putting his goggles up.

"You think you can make something like this?" I asked.

Gadot and Maqui exchanged a look, before a mischivous expression appeared on their faces. "I'm sure we can do something." Gadot began, "**if** you do something for us."

"Why do I get a feeling I'm not going to like what you suggest?"

"It's not hard." Maqui said. "We just need to know something."

"About Lebreau..." Gadot added.

"It's something completely perverted and innappropiate isn't it?"

Maqui giggled like a school girl.

"We just want to know..." Gadot stepped a bit closer to me, "what she wears under her clothes."

"Right." I said.

"I think she goes commando." Gadot said, "but Maqui thinks she does wear underwear."

"It's just really small to make it look like she's not wearing underwear. Like a G-string and those weird bras...that look like you're not wearing one...?"

"Fine." I quickly agreed just to get out of this conversation. Could be worse, they could be asking what _I_ wear underneath my clothes. Or Serah's.

Maqui squeaked like he was getting free candy (not too far off) and Gadot snatched my sketch. "He will be pleased with it."

"What do you mean you don't know where we're going?" Bartholomew's voice pierced through the Gran Pulse's silence.

I rushed towards the direction of the argument, with Gadot and Maqui following close behind. Bartholomew was yelling at Snow, Sazh and Hope were nearby listening, Dajh perched on Sazh's shoulders almost permaneantly, and Serah was hanging onto Snow's arm, slightly behind him, looking terrified of Bartholomew.

"I thought you knew." Snow answered.

Hope's dad looked like he was about to burst in frustration. "You are the ones who have been there. You're supposed to be taking us there!"

"Are you saying that we're lost!" Vera screamed, and it riled up all the survivors.

"Who is the leader?" Cloud asked in exasperation.

"I am, but-" Bartholomew tried to explained but everybody got even more angry.

"But if the L'Cie know where we're going they should be the ones leading!" Squall argued. "But that doesn't mean I'm on your side eighter."

"We can't be lost!" Ruby screamed, "I've been lost for days. I'm tired of being lost."

"Our sick can't keep going like this." Yuna added.

"Will everyone shut their mouths." The pregnant woman ordered. "I suggest that our fellow L'Cies climb Heaven's Peak, and look for our village up there. That way we will finally know how far we have to go, and exactly where we are? Does that sound reasonable."

"Snow, Lightning, and Sazh can go." Bartholomew said quickly.

"And me." Hope quickly added in.

I noticed his father clench his teeth when he heard his voice pipe up. "No, you will not be joining them."

"Why? I'm a L'Cie too."

"You have a responsibility to your puppy. They are not a thing you can just hand off to somebody whenever you want to play hero. And everybody is too busy with their own affairs to be responsible for your-"

"I'll take care of Viride for you, Hope!" Dajh volunteered as Sazh put his son back down.

"I'll help!" Marlene also volunteered, leaving Tifa's side.

"Wonderful," Morrigan said with a sly smile, "all the children are accepting responsibility. You taught them well."

"But you have no weapon." Bartholomew tried again.

"No, I fixed it. See!" Hope pulled out his boomerang, which was wrapped up in excessive amount of tape. "Besides, I probably won't need it."

"What we will need is some climbing equipment." Sazh said.

"Only at Lenora's Garage!" Maqui said suddenly like he was a pop up add.

Bartholomew let out an annoyed cry, "Fine, take my son with you. Dear Maker, I just had my son back for less than a day."

"You're leaving!" Serah exclaimed suddenly, clutching Snow's coat. "You promised! No more-"

"We're not leaving." Snow tried to reassure my sister. "We're just climbing this mountain. It's like we're...upstairs?"

Serah looked between Snow and I, then pulled away angrily, running away. Vera followed behind her, giving me a glance.

I looked at Snow, thinking the same thing. There's no way we can keep our promise _and_ keep her safe.

But her safety matters so much more.

"Here you go." Maqui tossed the equipment to Snow. "Quick question, have you guys actually climbed a mountain before?"

So, the four of us has to circle around this rather large mountain, taking us only an hour before we found a good and safe climbing spot. Even I haven't climbed something so tall.

"I think I should lead." Snow offered, as he tied a cord around his waist.

"Why?" Sazh asked after we all exchanged a look, "so you can crush us all underneath your massive weight."

"So I can support you guys. If we make, say, little Hope go in front, I am like five times his weight, and he also has to have you guys. That's a lot of weight to hold up."

"What are you trying to say Snow?" Sazh asked. "What's your plan."

"I was thinking," Snow handed another harness like belt, "we like stay connected to each other with these."

"Oh," Hope said, picking up another belt, "so if one of us go down, we all go down. Great plan."

"You guys got a better one? I'm gonna be the one keep you all up. Leave all the hard work to me. I'm the heaviest so I know I can do this."

"Alright." I said, "I trust you."

"Really?" Snow said suddenly, staring at me like I gave him the best compliment he's ever heard. Wait...I probably did.

"Yeah, I trust you." I repeated like there was nothing weird about it. "Guys?" I asked Sazh and Hope.

"Well...if Light trusts you to keep us from plummeting to our deaths...then I do too." Hope said putting the belt on.

Sazh groaned. "I just can't catch a break. Fine..." Sazh put his hands together in prayer, "Oh Maker, don't kill me off now. I just got my lil' boy back." Snow rolled his eyes at Sazh's antics, going over to buckle him up.

**General POV**

"I can't believe they didn't keep their promise." Serah cried.

"I knew they wouldn't." Vera told her, leaning over Maqui's makeshift table that he was right now using to make a weapon. "They are antsy people. All they want to do is go out and do things. They can never take a moment to settle down and spend time with people that really matters."

"Snow's not like that." Maqui stuck up for his boss. "He volunteered because he's been here before. He knows where Oerba is. So does your sister."

"Why couldn't just my sister go. Or just Snow go." Serah complained. "Instead of just leaving me like this."

"Unless..." Vera trailed off, getting Serah's attention, "what if their having an affair?"

"Oh come on!" Maqui cried out, exasperated. "Snow wouldn't betray Serah like that."

"Think about it, the two have been joined at the hip." Vera tried to explain. "When the went into Cocoon, when they got back. How do you know they didn't have a fling or two during their L'Cie adventures."

Serah's eyes widened. They got bigger when Gadot suddenly appeared, and pounded his fist onto the worktable. "That is the biggest bullshit I've ever heard in my life! The Boss isn't sleeping with Serah's sister. I don't even think Lightning's straight."

"That doesn't matter." Maqui added, "Snow would never do something like that."

"Say what you want." Vera said, flipping her blonde hair and walking off. Serah looking down at the hem of her skirt, thinking about what she said.

**Lightning's POV**

"I'm starting to have second thoughts." Sazh said from in front of me as we scaled the side of the mountain.

"How long is the climb supposed to be, does anybody know?" Hope asked behind me.

"No idea." I said.

"It's starting to smell bad up here too." Sazh told us.

"Sorry." Snow said. "Didn't think anybody heard."

"Ugh..." I groaned.

"Hearing is not the problem, you nasty!" Sazh blurted angry. "My mouth was open and everything!"

"This climb better be worth it." Hope said.

**General POV**

Tifa helped Marlene take care of Viride, as Cloud watched from afar. Something he has always done.

_Cloud was driving through the Vile Peaks on his motorcycle, Fenrir, when he heard Tifa's voice suddenly scream his name behind him._

_He looked behind him to see her chasing after him in a taxi cab._

_How the hell? He wouldn't know._

_"Cloud Strife, pull over now!" Tifa ordered._

_Cloud huffed as he stopped his motorcyle. Tifa pulled up next to him, and exited the car. Then she punched him right in the face, knocking him off the bike. "How the fuck are you going to come to the house to see Denzel and then leave. Like nothing was wrong!"_

_"Nothing is wrong." Cloud explained._

_"Like hell it is!"_

_"Hey lady, are you getting off here or-" Tifa cut off the taxi cab driver._

_"Shut up! I am talking right now."_

_"But I have to work-"_

_"Wait!" She barked back, scaring the man into silence. "You!" She channeled her anger back on her husband, or ex-husband, she wasn't even sure what Cloud was anymore. "You __**left**__ us. You don't pick up your phone when we call, you don't let us know where you are ever, you don't come and see us. Now all of a sudden you are giving Denzel medicine."_

_"I told him not to tell you I was there."_

_"Dammit __**Cloud**__!" Tifa screamed, pushing him back down on the ground. "What the hell is the matter with you! Why are you being this way! How are we supposed to work anything out if you don't tell me. You think if you tell me what you're thinking the sky will fall?"_

_That was when it started happening. Cocoon began to shake and everything was flying upward. "I'm gettin' the hell out of here!" The cab driver said, driving off without Tifa._

_"Wait! What the fuck?!" Tifa swore as she watched the cab driver leave her with her (ex)husband._

_"Tifa, get on. We have to get ot of here." Cloud told her._

_Everything was starting to get crystalized. "__**Now!**__" He repeated himself._

_Tifa blew her breath but jumped onto the back of Cloud's motorcycle as they drove off._

The entire time, they argued, about little things. Up until they met with the other survivors. Cloud doubts that things will be the same between him and Tifa again.

He was already distant for a year, nothing has really changed. He left Tifa and Marlene, deciding to assist Squall in lookout for monsters.

**Lightning's POV**

Two hours later we finally made it to the top of the peak. Unfortunately a wild wyvern decided that right now was the perfect time for a "L'Cie food buffet" and just as it was my turn to climb up, it swept too close and ripped the cord that was connecting me to Sazh. Sazh tumbled foward as I started slipping, weary that Hope was right behind me.

"Soldiergirl!" Sazh called to me, as I began to fall slowly back down. "Grab my hand." Sazh held out his arm, and I can hear Snow fighting the wyvern alone.

"Watch out!" I screamed as Snow dodged an attack and it was heading straight towards the unsuspecting Sazh. He fell back to avoid getting eaten and my fingers slipped, Hope and I beginning to fall.

"Soldiergirl! Kid!" Sazh screamed! "They fell!" I heard him faintly tell Snow.

My eyes shut preparing for a fatal landing when I felt someone grab my hand. I opened my eyes and it appeared that while we were falling, Hope had quickly grabbed hold of the side of the mountain and he caught me as I flew past him. Now I was behind him.

But the part he grabbed broke and we fell further. But we were both able to grab hold of the mountain, still connected. The wyvern hovered above us tauntingly, and I worried for Sazh and Snow. I pulled out my gunblade and started shooting at it, telling Hope to duck so I would hit him.

I kept missing as the wyvern danced about and debris began to shower our heads. "Hope, can you support my weight for just a moment.

I sheathed my gunblade for a moment, and Hope reached over, taking a firm grip of my arm as I momentarily let go to unfasten my belt. Once I was free I handed the belt to Hope, grabbing hold the side of the mountain once more.

Once the wyvern made it's way towards us, I took my chance and pushed myself off the mountain.

"Light!" Hope screamed for me.

I quickly jumped onto the back of the wyvern, my arms wrapped firmly around it's body to keep from falling. It flew over the peak where Snow and Sazh were conversing, until they saw us. "Sis!" Snow called out to me excitedly.

"Where's the kid?" Sazh asked me.

"He's still down there!" I informed them, unwielding my gunblade once more. I was going to slice open the wyvern, but one sudden swoop threw me off balance and my gunblade dropped out of my hand. "No! Shit!" I swore as I saw my only weapon fall and clatter inbetween Snow and Sazh who were much too far down to throw it back to me.

I was stuck. I couldn't let go now because I'd end up landing on the ground. Or my body would. Sazh started shooting at the wyvern and I tried my best to not get shot by his array of bullets. But the wyvern kept flying higher and higher, almost taking me away from the others.

Just then I saw Hope's boomerang flying in my direction...until it broke in half again.

Luckily, the front part was going even faster after being released by the weight of the tape and managed to stab the creature in the eye. Of course it wasn't enough to outright kill it, so I took the broken boomerang out of the now blind eye and worked the broken sharp part to finish what I had already intended to do.

The creature let out a loud bellowing cry of agony as it began to plummet toward Gran Pulse. As it was beginning to pass toward where Snow and Sazh were, I leaped off and Snow caught me in his arms.

**General POV**

"Mr. Estheim!" Dajh called for the leader, Marlene following close behind with Viride.

Bartholomew looked up upon hearing Sazh's son calling for him, and saw him waving a broken piece of Hope's boomerang, suffocating in tape. Bartholomew took it from Dajh's hand, his heart sinking. This is not a good sign.

Cloud was the one who noticed the falling wyvern, alerting Squall who was also on monster watch.

"Everybody get out the way!" Squall demanded rushing through to find his handicapped father. When he did, Terra was already helping the older man out of the fray.

Tidus scooped up both his own son and Ruby's son, while Ruby and Yuna were following close behind.

Tifa got Marlene and Dajh out the way, The Chocobo (Chocolina) and Viride with them.

"Where's Serah?" Vera screamed as Morrigan forced the blonde to move.

Bartholomew stopped and looked around for a certain strawberry blonde, who was hiding underneath Maqui's work table. He rushed towards her sliding down underneath and pulled her into his arms, shielding her from the dirt and debris.

After the wyvern landed in the middle of the camp, the survivors approached the creature in awe. Serah was crying onto Bartholomew's shirt. "I was so scared." She whispered.

"It's alright, you're okay now." He assured her, patting her hair down and looking down at her. He wiped away her tears. Amodar saw Serah and helped her out of the table and once Bartholomew got a little more space, he hunched over.

"Oh. My back..." He groaned.

"How did this happen?" Vera complained, "I bet those L'Cies took it down, not even caring about our safety."

"Look, it's that kid's boomerang." Ruby pointed out.

"Hope..." Bartholomew asked after Reks unwedged the broken boomerang piece. Hope's father smiled in pride of his son.

**Lightning's POV**

Sazh pulled Hope on top of the Mountain after we waited for him to climb back up. "This isn't a peak." Hope said. "It's a summit."

I pulled the map Old Dalan managed to sketch out of my pouch and laid it out in front of us. "We're here." I said, pointing at 'Heaven's Peak'. "And we need to get here." I pointed at the circled 'Oerba Village'.

Snow was already hoisting Hope onto his shoulders so he can see at a better range through the binoculars. "See anything yet?"

"Not yet." Hope informed us. "It's kind of cloudy."

"Try facing..." Sazh shifted Snow and Hope east. "This way."

"I..." Hope began, "Oh! Wait! I see it! Way over there!"

He handed the binoculars to me, and there, the village stood. It was still as we left it, but I can easily imagine us all living there. Our new home. "It looks like a three day journey."

"Really?" Sazh asked. "We're really almost there?"

**General POV**

"You're good." Morrigan told the survivors who had volunteered to carry the wyvern.

Which consisted of Vaan, Terra, Gadot, Lebreau, Cloud, Amodar, Rygdea, and Tifa. They dropped the great beast a ways from the camp, at least far away where it wouldn't make Serah uneasy.

When she saw the sliced open wyvern, she had fainted and was now under Yuna's care. Bartholomew as well after his sudden back injury. "I'm getting old." He said.

"How old are you?" Laguna asked curiously, sitting in the cot beside him.

"Forty seven."

"Damn. I'm still the oldest." Laguna complained but laughed.

"Laguna." Squall said as he entered the airship. "Maqui and Gadot said they are done with the prototype."

"Really?" He said in awe. "What's the hold up, get them in here."

"Why?" Yuna asked as she checked up on Serah.

"So I can put it on. I can't be stuck to a bed forever." Laguna told her.

"But you're going to do this here? What about-"

But Yuna didn't get to have any word in because Maqui and Gadot clambered in excitedly, "sorry it took so long." Gadot apologized, accidently hitting Yuna with his large stature, who gasped in surprised. "We were working on another project."

"But we didn't forget you." Maqui said.

"And when I am able to write again, you two will be the two main characters in my book."

"Promise?"

"Cross my fingers and hope to fly."

"Er, Laguna," Bartholomew said, "it's 'Cross my _**heart**_ and hope to _**die**_'."

"You sure?" Squall's dad asked, then he leaned in to whisper to Bartholomew, "I don't want to die."

"Ready?" Gadot asked after he rolled his pant leg up getting ready to attach his mechanical leg.

"Wait, wait, wait...is it gonna hurt?"

"Oh yes." Gadot said in an slightly evil voice.

"Why are you doing that? Why are you laughing like-**Ah! Oh! My fucking-! AGH!**"

"Um..." Maqui lifted his goggles up after they attached Laguna's leg, and everyone turned to see Serah awake, sitting up, and staring straight at Laguna's mechanical leg, the color drained from her. She fainted for the second time that day.

Yuna glared at the men.

"And...we're done." Gadot said awkwardly.

**Lightning's POV**

Another two hours later, we were almost back on the ground, now knowing which way we were going. Snow was the first to go down, the order reversed somewhat.

It was alot harder actually to climb back down, because we had to strain our necks looking down and there were just too many close calls.

We were about seven feet away from the ground when an unwanted voice suddenly startled Snow, making him let go of the mountain, dragging all of us down with.

I fell on top of Sazh, who fell on top of Snow, and Hope fell on top of me. We groaned from the ground, and I craned my sore neck to see Vera's face looking down at us.

Hope climbed off of me so I could get some air back into my lungs, and I stood back up too.

"Where have you been?" She asked like a scolding mother.

"Vera, why are you bothering us?" I asked annoyed by her prescence. "Who sent you?"

"Nobody. I don't take orders."

"Of course you don't."

"Because of you're recklessness, your pulsian beast crashed into our camp!"

"What?" Sazh exclaimed, as he helped the winded Snow onto his feet. "Is everyone alright?"

"They are, no thanks to you. Serah fainted at the gruesome...ugh. It was sliced opened! I threw up!"

"Is she alright?" I asked.

"No!" Vera screamed at me. "She's still unconcious!"

It was then that Vaan, Terra, Lebreau, and Cloud came running to our aid. "Are you guys alright?" Vaan asked.

"Why are you here?" Cloud asked. "We told you to stay with the other survivors."

Vera flipped her long blonde hair and batted her eyelashes at Cloud. "I don't take orders."

"Then you can't stay with us."

"Excuse me. Who are you?" Vera argued. "I was here _long _before you came. Now you think you're in charge of everyone now."

"He can if you're in the way." Lebreau told the blonde.

"Ohh, burn." Vaan commented.

Vera began walking toward Lebreau and I knew a fight was about to happen. Cloud held her back.

"Is Serah alright?" I asked worried.

"She's fine." Terra reassured me. "She was just a bit scared. We all were a bit shaken."

"She wouldn't have been so scared if you were there for her." Vera barked at me.

"We should go back and see her." Snow told me.

When we got to the camp, everybody had been working together to clean up the mess we caused after our fight with the wyvern.

"Dad?" Hope asked when he saw his dad on a makeshift cane. "Are you alright?"

"He's fine." Laguna answered for him, walking now. "He just threw out his back when he saved Serah from the wyvern."

"You did?" I asked, feeling guilty for not being there for Serah.

"Thank you, Bartholomew." Snow said.

Bartholomew just smiled, "we are all part of this community. It's my job to keep everyone safe. And I'm sorry for yelling at you about the directions."

"No hard feelings. Is she awake?" Snow asked referring to Serah.

"Yeah." Bartholomew said.

Sazh went to go looking for his son, Bartholomew and Hope following him. Snow and I entered the airship where Yuna was talking to Serah.

Yuna glared at us accusingly and Serah whimpered when she saw Snow. The large man pulled her into an embrace. "I'm so sorry Serah, that we left you alone again. I promise we won't do it again."

Serah didn't say anything.

We stayed with her trying to help her through her trauma. We were there for an hour before Yuna forced us out of the airship so she can rest, promising she'll be with Snow when it's time to sleep.

"Snow!" Yuj called for him when we exited the airship. "Can I see you for a moment. I'm designing some 'pulsian' wear and I need your measurements." He snapped his measurement tape like a whip, and I actually had to stifle a laugh at Snow's reaction to Yuj's suggestive eyebrow waggle.

"I'll leave you to it." I said, leaving Snow alone with his friend.

"Wait...Sis..." He begged but I just laughed it off.

But now I had to find something to do, Gadot and Maqui didn't look like they were quite done. And I do have to come up with 'payment'.

"Lightning." Terra called me over, "wanna take a bath with us?"

Standing next to her was Lebreau, staring at me with an unreadable expression. "Sure." I answered, realizing that this was the perfect oppurtunity.

"You're taking a bath?" Laguna suddenly appeared behind me looking a little too excited.

"You can't come, pervert." Lebreau laughed.

"Don't worry," Squall reassured us, "I won't let him out of my sight until you're done."

Laguna shrugged, giving me a wink. "It's alright, kinda just wanted to go for a stroll and try out my new leg. Gives me more time to spend time with my son."

"Whatever." Squall muttered, the father and son walked off.

It turned out Morrigan had recommended a lake just a little ways from the camp, which raised some questions as to why a pregnant woman was out and about by herself. She was even waiting for us, sitting cross legged under a tree next to the lake.

"Are you going to take a bath as well, Morrigan?" Terra asked.

"I wouldn't be joining you in the water, but I will clean my body, yes." She answered, chanting softly to her swollen abdomen.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Lebreau asked, shimmying out of her shorts.

"Urthemiel." She answered, not looking up.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" I asked as I got in.

"Beauty."

"So, what are we all going to do once we get to Oerba?" Terra asked after a comfortable silence as the three of us plus Morrigan cleaned ourselves.

"I was thinking of finding a way to open Lebreau's Bar back up." Lebreau said. "Old Dalan told me there are plenty of buildings."

"There is," I confirmed.

"Is there a school?" Terra asked.

"Yeah, there's a small schoolhouse."

"Then I can teach again. I know there's only a few school age kids, but even they need a teacher."

"I believe you are the only qualified teacher anyways." Morrigan added in.

"Morrigan," Lebreau began again, "do you know when your baby's due?"

"Soon." She replied.

"You don't know the date?" I asked.

"It depends."

"On?"

"I cannot tell you. It is my little secret."

Lebreau scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Come on, we're all girls here. Okay, I'll tell you a secret, I used to own a vibrator, and now I'm having Maqui build me one."

"What?" Terra exclaimed, laughing.

"That is disgusting." Morrigan said, but she was also chuckling.

I couldn't keep the amused smile off my face.

"Oh, come on, like you all don't own one." Lebreau barked back, splashing angrily. Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment.

I raised my hand, "Mine was red." I admitted.

Lebreau busted up in laughter, and Terra covered her mouth in mock mortification. "See, even the cold, stoic Lightning needs one."

"Fine!" Terra said. "Me owning one isn't the embarrassing part. What's embarrassing is that it had a floral design on it."

Lebreau began clapping in hysterics, and I was beginning to chuckle at Terra's red face. "I don't need one." Morrigan said standing up. She rolled her eyes suddenly after looking down at her baby bump. "Well, defintely not now, but before I used this."

She began pointing upward.

We stared up at the sky not exactly knowing what she was referring to until...

"Oh!" All three of us exclaimed.

"I win." Morrigan said with a smirk.

"Man," Lebreau wiped away a tear, "I can't wait till we get drunk together. If our conversations are gonna be like this when we're sober."

"I don't drink." Morrigan told her.

"I can handle my alcohol." I added.

"I'm doomed." Terra admitted, and Lebreau pulled her into a hug, patting her head.

After our bath/confessional, I headed straight to Gadot and Maqui, who were sitting by the worktable. "We have your weapon." Gadot told me.

"I have your answer." I said. Maqui hopped off the table in excitement. "You are both wrong."

They blinked in confusion. "Huh?" They asked.

"She isn't wearing underwear." I said. Gadot was about to gloat but I cut him off, "but-her clothes have underwear built in to them."

"Ha!" Maqui said. "So I win! I said she was wearing something that look like she wasn't wearing anything."

"No, you said it was underwear." Gadot argued back.

"It technically is."

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!" While the two were arguing I grabbed the weapon and snuck away.

Bartholomew greeted me. "Sergeant Farron, did you need something?"

"Actually, I have something for Hope." I told him.

His eyes narrowed and he let out a 'hmph'. "What is it?"

"Um..." I said, actually feeling awkward. "It's a surprise."

"Fine." Bartholomew said, grabbing his cane, "I'm going to check up on Laguna, see how he and his leg are doing?"

I could feel Hope's dad's eyes watching me, and I waited until he left before I could seek Hope out.

He was teaching his puppy to sit for food. "Sit, Viride."

The puppy cocked her head to the side in question.

"We've been over this, if you want food, you have to sit. Like this." He sat cross legged on the ground.

The puppy clumsily fell back on her bottom, whimpering slightly as she did so. She then tipped over off balance, Hope sighed and fed her anyway. "At least you tried." He finally noticed my prescence. "Hey, Light? Whatcha got there?"

I kept his present out of his sight, behind my back. "Nothing." I said, smiling to let him know I am playing a game with him.

He narrowed his eyes like his father did earliar, but he smiled as well. "So we're doing this now." He said, getting up from the ground.

I manuvered to one side when he tried to look, then switched when he did the same. He laughed at my antics and I revealed the new weapon to him.

He gasped in surprised, accepting it. "You got me a new boomerang?" He asked.

"Actually I designed it, and had Maqui and Gadot make it."

His eyes widened in realization, "so that's what Maqui was trying to hide from me. I thought it was weird. It's made out of steel. And it's super sharp at the ends. This could do alot of damage." He then found the button in the center of the boomerang that would usually open and close it. "What does this do?"

"Be careful when you press it though. Here, give it here." He handed me the boomerang, and I pressed the button.

His reaction was absolutely priceless, "Oh...my...god...it's a sword?!"

"A blade." I explained, holding it out with one hand. "It's alot lighter then my gunblade so you can handle it better, and since it also functions as a boomerang..." I handed it back to him, showing him how to properly hold it.

He stared at his own blade in awe, "Wow...this is amazing. But, Light, I don't know how to use a sword."

"Well, that's why I'm here." I explained, "I'm gonna teach you. Everyday, until you know how."

I picked up the small case I had brought with me, that I hidden off to the side and handed that to him as well. I helped show Hope how to put on the case on and off him, and he finally placed it in the case, on blade mode.

"I can't wait to see how smoothly it flies tommorrow." Hope said excitedly, setting his new weapon down. "Thanks Light." He pulled me into a grateful hug.

"No problem." I said.


	7. Verdelets, Ochus, and Borgbears

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Lightning's POV**

I spent the night next to Terra again. The two of us have found a sort of mutual bond between each other, even though we barely spoke to one another. Just being next each other made us comfortable, since there was nobody else to come to. Serah was with Snow now, and Terra has nobody.

To be honest I felt kind of bad for Terra, no family, no friends. I think I'm the closest thing she's got now.

When morning came, Terra was sleeping next me, having already risen early with Lebreau to help her and Tifa cook breakfast. I was kind of glad she had at least somebody else to talk to. I got up from where I rested just as Sazh, Rygdea, Maqui, and Vaan approached the camp.

"They're working!" Rygdea informed us, as everyone began to wake up.

"The airships?" Bartholomew asked.

Rygdea's smile dropped, "No, the kids. Yes the airships!"

Everyone cheered.

"Yay!" Serah clapped, "Now we can get to Oerba Village quicker."

"Actually, no." Rygdea said.

"There's only so much room in the airships for our sick and injured and for the rest of our supplies." Sazh added.

"Then how are we supposed to get to Oerba!?" Vera whined.

"Looks like we still have to walk." Cloud said.

"Walk!?" Ruby squawked almost like a chocobo, "I am so tired of walkin'! My feet are killin' me! And I am not 'bout to give up my heels."

"Don't worry, doll." Rygdea reassured his lover, "you can ride with me."

"Yee-haw!" Ruby said excitedly, jumping onto Rygdea, legs around his waist and they started making out again, making mostly everyone uncomfortable.

"Ugh." Harry whined when he saw his mother. "Make it stop!"

"Hey!" Vera cried again, "How come she gets to ride in the airship and we can't, we all got problems!"

"We're drivin'." Sazh told her, "And if Rygdea wants to bring his girl along for the ride, he can. If you want, I recommend you get the children up in here too."

"Could we all stay in one of the airships." Yuna asked referring to her, Tidus, and Ainu, "I still have to tend."

"Of course." Bartholomew allowed. "Hope, I also want you in that airship to help out."

Hope looked at his father, smiling a bit. Bartholomew was finally accepting his son's abilities as a healer. "You got it."

"After we eat," Bartholomew continued, "we'll set out. If I hadn't called your name then you're on foot."

Vera scoffed and stormed off angry that she will be walking more. I approached Snow and Serah. "I can't believe they're making me walk too." Serah complained to her soon to be husband.

"Well, Yuna said that you're fine, that you don't need the airship. If it makes you feel any better, they're making Laguna walk too." Snow reassured my sister. When he saw me make my way over his smile broadened and Serah looked between us looking just as confused as I did. "Hey, Sis..." He greeted in a sing song voice.

"What?" I asked. "Why are you talking like that?"

Snow chuckled mischievously and Serah cocked her head to the side, "A little birdie told me that you got him a present."

I could feel my eyebrows furrow. "Hope showed you?"

"Who? What? WHAT!?" Serah asked, bursting with curiousity. She then gasped. "Oh my gosh! You got a guy a present!? Is he your BOYFRIEND!?"

Snow busted up in hysterical cackling, holding his stomach, "H-hold on...I gotta tell Sazh! Oh my God, Sazh! Man, come here!" Snow continued laughing his butt off, trudging toward where Sazh was talking to Tidus.

"Claire!" Serah squealed pulling me into a tight hug, "I am so happy for you. I knew you'd fall in love-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa..." I found myself repeating over and over again as I quickly tried to explain that whatever it is my sister is thinking is not the case.

"Claire, there's no need to be shy..."

"Serah!" I tried again since she was obviously not listening, "it's Hope...fourteen, five feet, silver hair, green eyes, now raising a puppy. Bartholomew's son!" I tried jogging her memory in case she had forgotten who he even was, "one of the L'Cie."

Serah's excited looked turned to one of confusion, to shock, to mortified. "Claire...uh..."

"Again...not what your thinking." I tried once more.

"But...but..." Serah looked disapointed, "why did you get him a present?"

"It's a new weapon. Remember his boomerang broke."

"Boomerang...?" She then gasped, turning sheet white and covering her mouth, "The one that...oh...I'm gonna be sick again..."

"Get your mind off that." I told her, catching her when her knees started to buckle. "And I was the one who did...that..."

She looked up at me, her icy blue eyes wide. "You...did that...I'm...feeling faint..." She fell onto her knees.

"What's going on here?" Vera suddenly intervened, "What did you do to her!" She barked at me like she was high and mighty.

I glared her down, "Don't accuse me of anything. Back off!" I barked back, and I noticed Vera tremble at the authority in my voice.

Then Tifa came, knelting down next to a silent and numb Serah. "Serah?" I asked, "Hey, what's wrong with you?" I asked.

"Why are you scaring her?" Tifa asked, "just because you're a soldier doesn't mean you can bark at all of us. That doesn't make you strong."

I could not believe what I was hearing? What was going on here? My playful banter with **my** little sister turned into my sister having an episode, while two women (one I don't like, the other I don't know) accusing me for causing my sister to behave this way.

My sister had moments after my mom left when I was twelve, she nine, but they weren't this bad. It was like she was having an out of body experience or something. "Serah?" Tifa called out to **my** sister, shielding me away from her like I was some dangerous monster.

Serah looked up at at Tifa, her eyes blank and confused. "What's going on?" Snow's voice whispered from behind me.

I turned around and he, Sazh, and Hope were standing there, watching Serah with the same confused look as I was most likely wearing. "Dad?" Hope asked his dad who was coming our way. "Did Serah...did something happen while we were gone?" He asked him.

Bartholomew pursed his lips, glancing as Tifa helped Serah up. "Come with me." he told all four of us.

"Dajh, stay with Tidus." Sazh told his son who was playing with Chocolina and Ainu.

Bartholomew took us a ways from the survivors so they wouldn't hear, "Don't tell anyone, especially Vaan and Reks." That surprised me, "I don't want them to have a bad image of their sister."

The four of us exchanged a confused look before we let Bartholomew inform us. "Penelo...didn't get killed from an adamantoise. She died the next day...she killed herself. Shot herself in the head."

I just stared, Hope gasped, and Sazh let out a shaky breath. "Serah saw..." Snow said.

Bartholomew nodded. "Right in front of her eyes. Ever since then she's been having nightmares, jumps at sudden movements, screams when somebody brushes by her, faints at the sight or image of blood."

"Damn." Sazh commented, "poor girl."

"Yuna calls this a severe case of posttraumatic stress anxiety disorder." Bartholomew informed us.

"How long before she gets better?" I asked.

Bartholomew took off his glasses, revealing serious caramel brown eyes, "No one knows. Your sister has been through too much."

Suddenly Hope walked away quickly, too quick I couldn't tell what his face looked like. Maybe the news about Serah saddened him. He probably can relate, his mother was killed in front of him, too.

But I felt at fault for what me and Snow being away from Serah has done to her. Why she tries so hard to hold onto us. She's beginning to fall apart and I don't know what will happen when she does and what I or even Snow could do to pick her back up and put her together again.

What Penelo did was stupid. Really stupid. Because of _her_ actions Vaan and Reks are suffering. It reminded me too much of my mother, she left us because _she_ was unhappy, and this made my father unhappy, then Serah...then...

But I didn't want Serah to be next. I don't want her gone. So right then and there I made a promise that even if I have to give my life, or sacrifice anybody else...Serah was going to be alright. She was going to live, get married and have plenty of children. She will be given that normal life.

Because Serah is the only one who matters.

I then heard a sudden scream. "Serah!" Snow and I said at the same time.

"Guranggatch!" Morrigan exclaimed.

"Amams!" Old Dalan added, "Rafflesia are popping out!"

Hope then ran back, "everyone, there's an enormous underground tunnel! Get everyone that is walking there. Sazh!"

Sazh left our side and joined Hope in gathering up pets and children and anyone else who was riding in the airships.

**Man'habara Subterra**

"Where are we going?" Serah asked, holding onto Snow's jacket.

"To Oerba." I explained, "these are underground channels used to mine minerals."

Vera began to cough dramatically waving away invisible dirt. "It's so...ew." She whined.

"The area is blocked." Bartholomew told us.

"You are all a bunch of babies." Tifa said, flipping her long dark hair and kicking one of the rocks over until it crashed into the side of the cave, disintergrating into infinity. She put a hand to her hip oozing with arrogance. "What, are you all just gonna stand and stare or are you gonna help a girl out."

So all of us except for Serah and Vera helped move the rocks and debris so we could make our way out.

"Hey, hey, hey," Reks told his younger brother who was carrying a rather large rock, "don't strain yourself."

Vaan snorted at him, "Hey, I'm stronger than I look." He told him.

"Hm-hm." His older brother hummed, and the people listening in including me chuckled at their interaction.

"Hey! I'm strong too." Vaan complained.

"If you can talk..." Cloud said, shoving a particularly larger rock than Vaan was already struggling with. When Vaan was about to fall over from the weight, I quickly caught it, helping him move it. He looked up at me in embarrassment.

I patted his shoulder, "You'll get there." I assured him quietly so nobody else heard.

He blinked at my response and nodded. Terra smiled in our direction. "Pep talk." She whispered to me when Vaan was out of earshot.

"Hmph." I grunted, nodding while moving over more rocks.

"I think he got what it takes to. Anybody can if they try." She said, picking up a large piece of rock and with a overexerted grunt, tossed it aside with the others. She laughed in pride, wiping away the debris on her dress.

I chuckled at her antics. Lebreau joined in when she saw Terra. "Super woman over here." She muttered.

Terra flexed her arm and I rolled my eyes playfully at the older woman. Lebreau leaned over to pick up another rock and I noticed Gadot just stop what he was doing to check out Lebreau's behind. He nudged Snow who laughed at his bestfriend.

Lebreau turned around and saw the two, and smiled mischievously, "Oh? You like what you see?"

Snow and Gadot grinned at her, and I figured the three of them always did stuff like this, and it was amusing to watch, until Serah peered around from behind Snow's back and narrowed her eyes at her. Tifa suddenly appeared once more, handing Lebreau a rock. "Quit flirting and get to work, or stay out of the way." She lectured.

Lebreau looked taken aback by Tifa's obvious distaste for her, and Snow and Gadot got back to work for fear of Tifa's wrath. "What's your problem, lady?"

I noticed from the corner of my eye most of the men flee, expecting a fight between Tifa and Lebreau to break out. "Excuse me, this isn't the time and place to be fraternizing when they are working."

"Are you calling me a slut, Miss Z-Cup?"

"Uh...guys..." Terra tried to diffuse the anger.

Tifa held up a hand that was to signal the end of the conversation, "Help out, or stand around idly with the pregnant woman."

"Excuse me?" Morrigan spoke up.

"Ugh..." I groaned aloud. This was why I never associated myself with women. Most Guardian Corps members were men. Too much drama gets involved with women. And as a result, things never get done. If guys fight, they rough it up a bit, and in the next hour they are buddies again. Then we all go back to work.

But women...they were a whole different story.

"I did nothing to you woman. And now you suddenly drag my name into this debacle." Morrigan continued, Terra and Lebreau standing behind her.

"I didn't say your name," Tifa argued back, Serah and Vera staying behind to watch. I noticed the men watching at a safe distance, entranced in a soon to be fight.

"I am not idle." She argued back.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Tifa tried to reassure her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off rude."

Morrigan still didn't look ready to accept Tifa's apology and made an attempt to pick up a rock. "Wait," Serah pleaded, "don't, you'll hurt yourself."

Morrigan ignored my sister as she strained to throw the rock aside. "Morrigan." I told her, trying to get her to back down. But nothing was going to change Morrigan's mind.

**General POV**

**Rygdea's Airship**

"Ohoho!" Ruby giggled as she sat across Rygdea's lap. "Oh, Rygdea, you are the most handsomest hunk of man candy I've ever laid eyes on."

"And you Ruby, are the most beautiful and wildest gal I've ever had the pleasure to be in a relationship with." Rygdea told his new sweetheart, nibbling her neck.

"Oh! Rygy!" She squealed, ignoring the fact that her son and Marlene were in the next room, helping themselves to the food that was piled up.

"You sure it's alright to have some of this stuff?" Marlene asked cautiously looking down at her unopened candy bar.

"Mama and Rygdea said that we can have whatever we want as long as we don't interupt their space." Harry told her, handing her a can of soda.

"We got alot of good stuff." Marlene commented looking at the piles and piles and piles of stuff. Whether they needed them or not. "I wonder where they got it."

"Mama said this Goddess with golden hair let them have it."

"Thank the Goddess." Marlene said taking a bit of her chocolate bar and enjoying the sweetness. "Hmmm..."

"Marlene?" Harry asked the six year old girl, "What's it like to have a dad?"

"My dad is dead." She told the ten year old.

"I thought Cloud was your dad."

"No. Not even close. Tifa has been looking after me while my dad was part of this rebel group called Avalanche. They're dead now."

"I'm sorry."

"What about your dad?"

"I never met my dad. My mama had me young. We didn't live too well eighter, we lived in this shack outside of Eden, near PalumPolum."

"What did your mom do?" Marlene asked him.

"She wants to be an actress. She gets by on commercials and 'adult movies' that she doesn't let me watch. But she wants to be in movies. Wants to be a star. Has been since she was a kid."

"Tifa's a bartender." Marlene told him. "Cloud's a Guardian Corps soldier."

"Yeah, I can tell by the uniform. Looks like Lightning's and Amodar's."

"I think Squall's one too, but he isn't wearing one." Marlene added.

Rygdea then entered the room with Ruby clinging tightly to his side, giggling. "What are y'all kids up to. Not kissin' I hope."

"Ew!"

"No! Gross." The two kids said at the same time.

"Good, cause I'm gonna tell Cloud if y'all are. And he ain't gonna like you all up on his lil' girl. So ya better run boy."

"Cloud's..." Harry was about to tell him Cloud really isn't Marlene's dad, but she quickly elbowed him, silently telling him to keep his mouth shut. "I mean, we're not doin' nothin' you said we ain't supposta' do."

Rygdea grinned down at him, rubbing his long dark hair.

**Sazh's Airship**

"We're bored!" Ainu whined as he layed across an unoccupied cot. Yuna shooed his son off of it.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I can't entertain you two right now. You're gonna have to come up with something without disturbing the patients."

"Hope." Dajh tugged on the teenager's shirt, "Can we play with your dog?"

Chocolina zipped out of Dajh's afro and began sqwawking, snapping her neck and waving her wing around like she was telling her owner off. "Don't get mad, Chocolina." Dajh comforted, "Of course I'm gonna play with you too."

"Wait, I wanted to show you two something." Hope said after he just got done with a patient. The three kids approached the white wolfhound pup, who was rolling all over the her play area, amusing herself. "Viride!" Hope called out and she stood upright, wagging her tail. The teenager pulled out some bread, "Sit!" She sat down.

"Wow! You taught her to sit for food." Ainu said in amazement, watching the dog chew the bread and swallow.

"I taught her another trick. Roll over, Viride." The hound baby laid down and rolled over on it's back. Chocolina sat on top of Viride's stomach, whistling as she rubbed the puppy's belly with her wing.

The three boys laughed. "Hope!" Yuna lectured the eldest, "I brought you on to help, not to play around."

"Sorry Yuna." Hope apologized, "Have fun, you guys."

In the cockpit, Sazh and Tidus were talking about being fathers. "I think you're a great dad." Tidus told the older man.

Sazh glanced at Tidus from the corner of his eye as he kept his eyes ahead, manually piloting. "How do you figure?" he asked him.

"You're the only one raising him." Tidus pointed out. "Dajh doesn't have a mother, and you had to be both mom and dad. That's rough. I can't imagine how much you have given up so Dajh could have the normal life."

"Yeah..." Sazh commented. "You can't imagine. Dajh _had_ a mother. Deja..."

_Twenty two years ago..._

_Alcohol was spilling, music was blaring, money was being gambled, strippers were pole dancing._

_These were the things that use to associate with Sazh Katzroy, twenty two years ago, when he was only eighteen years old. His afroswas braided into close cornrows, he had a clean shave, wore a black dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows so he can handle his cards better, and he had a cigarette in his mouth._

_"So, highschool graduate," One of the men he was playing adressed him based on Sazh's first words when he entered the club ("Guess what I got that y'all don't! A highschool degree!"), "What's your starting bet?"_

_Sazh pulled out his cigarette and blew out the smoke. "6000 gil." The other participants whistled at the amount._

_"You sure you want to do that?" A dark skinned woman with thick, tight, black springy curls approached the table and leaned over. She appeared to have been the same age as Sazh._

_"Trust me, sweetheart, I know what I'm doin'." Sazh assured the newcomer._

_After only ten minutes, Sazh's pockets were filled with 30000 gil in his pockets. "Impressive." The woman commented, slowly clapping. The angry men Sazh played threw their cards, quitting the game. Deja smirked, taking the seat directly across from Sazh. "Buy me in, 600 gil."_

_Sazh rose an eyebrow at the beautiful woman across from her, "You want to play me?" When the woman looked like she wasn't about to back down, Sazh shrugged, "6000 gil."_

_"Maybe you should match me." She suggested. "Unless you want to lose that 6000."_

_Sazh blew his cigarette smoke in front of him, the smoke stopping centimeters away from her face. She only blinked once in response. "How old are you anyway?" Sazh asked, to keep a conversation going, a tactic he always used._

_"Eighteen." She answered. "I get told I look and act alot older than that though."_

_"Me too." Sazh replied. "I just had my highschool graduation."_

_"Congradulations. I wish I finished highschool." Deja commented as she played, not wavering in her pokerface. "So what are you gonna do now?"_

_Sazh rose an eyebrow in question. "After highschool." Deja elaborated._

_"I'm joining the Guardian Corps." Sazh told her._

_"Military..." She said in almost a sing song voice. "Their gonna whip your ass into shape, boy. Into a respectable gentleman."_

_Sazh snorted again when he showed his cards. "I win." He told her._

_She clicked her tongue and revealed her cards, Sazh's jaw dropping. "Hold up!" He exclaimed. "How did you...?"_

_She shrugged taking his money. "Thanks for playing. It was fun."_

_" 'ey!" He called out to the woman. "What's your name?"_

_She turned around, smiling at him. "Deja. Deja Queen."_

_"Sazh Katzroy."_

_The next night, Sazh saw the same woman again, and after illegally drinking alcohol, the two found themselves in Sazh's apartment, in Sazh's bed._

_The next morning, Sazh had no recollection of the events the previous night, the only evidence was the note on his side table._

_**Sazh,  
I had a wonderful time last night. Besides the sex. That was nice in it's own way, but I meant when we got to talking. I hope we can do this again sometime.  
Deja xoxo**_

_Sazh smirked, but then he looked at the clock. Twelve. He was late for his interview with the head of the Guardian Corps, Star Farron!_

_Ten years after being away from Bodhum, he got into a really bad airship crash, and he landed in the water. He was sure he was going to die, and he thought about his entire life. Sazh was not pleased when he realized he wasn't really proud of any of his accomplishments. The only ones he can honestly say was graduating highschool and joining the Guardian Corps. And..._

_Deja._

_He hadn't thought about that name or her face in ten years. It was like he was seeing a secret message in his head when the entire time he struggled to escape, he kept thinking of Deja. Until he finally broke through the water._

_He was sent back to Bodhum the next day, and the first thing he did was look for the woman he hadn't spoken to in ten years._

_He found out she worked at the club they first met in and was a dancer there. And that was where he went, still in his Guardian Corp pilot uniform that he almost died in, his afro now a distinct and trademark look for him. He still kept a clean shave to follow the military regulations for facial hair._

_Deja was working but she faltered in her routine when she saw Sazh. Even though he was much older and looked completely different than the man she met those years ago, and when most women would have been angry that their 'supposed' lover never calling or writing to her...but instead she smiled big._

_She jumped off the stage and smacked him across the face. Sazh had expected that, but soon after she pulled him into a deep kiss. Everyone in the club cheered the two lovers on. And from that moment on, Sazh and Deja knew they were going to be together forever..._

_That was until after they got married, after they had Dajh and he was three years old, after Sazh retired and became a pilot for cargo airships...did Sazh find out that Deja has been fighting a disease. It first appeared while he was away, and now has returned...and was staying for good._

_For the entire week, Sazh stayed by his wife's side, as she was taken into the Bodhum Hospital. Dajh was being looked after by Deja's younger sister._

_"Sazh..." Deja struggled to speak, knowing that this was it. "I want you to promise me something."_

_"Yes, Deja. Anything, baby." He told her, kissing her icy cold hand._

_She stared back at him, her once big curly hair, shaved all off during one of the attempts at medication. "Be there for him. Be there for our Dajh. Keep him safe..." She trailed off._

_And then she was gone. Even after the funeral Sazh couldn't take back his son, still stricken with grief. He drank, he gambled. He didn't come into work or even left the house or try to contact his son._

_It was Deja's younger sister, Felicia who snapped some sense into Sazh. "He's your son, Sazh! My sister wouldn't want this! She would have wanted you to take responsible for him."_

_"I can't, Felicia. I don't know anything about being a father. I was never there for him. I'm like a stranger to him." Sazh slurred._

_"So you think staying away from him will make things better for the two of you. He's three years old, and hurting! He lost his mother...and now he's about to lose his father." Felicia spat at him._

_Sazh stared up at the dark skinned woman._

_And then for the next months, Sazh was entered into a rehablitation center to clean himself and get some psyciatric help. He was labeled as depressed, alcoholic, and prone to suicide after almost hanging himself the first night in the rehab._

"How did you get better?" Tidus asked.

Sazh blinked, remembering where he was. He was so deep in thought while telling Tidus his story. "I had a dream." He told him. "Deja, she reminded me of the promise. And I promised her. I remembered, when I was finally released...Felicia was there wih Dajh. That little toddler ran to me screaming 'Daddy!'." Sazh laughed, trying to keep his tears from coming out, "I thought Dajh always hated me. Because I was never around...now...I'll die if my son was ever taken away from me like the Fal'Cie had tried to do."

**Lightning's POV**

**Man'habara Subterra**

It wasn't long after we cleared the way when we heard the sound of an adamantoise. I noticed Serah gasp audibly and clench Snow's trenchcoat tighter. The tunnel around us started to shake. "Vera, take Serah." Snow told the tall blonde woman.

Vera grabbed Serah's hand and the two ran back, as more eligible fighters ran forward, drawing their weapons. Lebreau made Morrigan go with my sister and Vera to safety.

Luckily it was only one. "Attack the forlegs!" I commanded, and luckily mostly everyone listened.

I heard Serah and Vera screaming from behind me, and I saw a Boxed Phalanx with two others hoplites cornering the two women now hugging each other. Surprisingly, it was Morrigan who used her sturdy tree branch that she usually carries around with her to fight off the hoplites.

"Take out the Phalanx!" I told them. Suddenly Old Dalan began to perform some fighting arts, taking on the Phalanx by himself. At first I thought he was loony since he was too busy posing to do any damage, but suddenly he entered in a sort of rage and began taking out his enemies using various kick moves that I've honestly only seen on television.

He let out battle cries as he did it. Bartholomew also had picked up a gun and helped Morrigan defeat the remaining hoplites that were coming through. I refocused my attention on the adamantoise.

Tifa pushed Terra out the way, "Don't just stand there. It's too dangerous." But Tifa was the one knocked down and Terra with her sword began fighting off a flyer that had assaulted Tifa. Angry, the fighter got up and dualing with Terra took it out.

With the help of the survivors, we managed to take out the forlegs. "Hurry, Sis!" Snow told me, reaching his hand out.

I ran in his direction and he boosted me up, him following close behind me. "Here it comes!" We said at the same time. And then combining our L'Cie powers were took out the adamantoise.

We both landed back down on the ground. "Nice work." Cloud _actually_ complimented.

"Yeah," Squall added, "Good teamwork everyone."

I went to check up on Serah, "Are you alright?" I asked her.

She didn't say anything, and I didn't push her. That bad huh?

**General POV**

**Rygdea's Airship**

"What in tarnation is that?" Ruby suddenly exclaimed as a verdelet came screeching in their direction, in a swarm. "Agh!" Rygy do somethin'! What do they want?"

"They hungry!" Rygdea told his lover who squealed in fright and fled to where the children were. The sound of a door opening caught Rygdea's attention. When he went into the other room he saw Ruby hanging off the side of the door, dress and hair flying all over the place as she literally fed the verdelets.

"Here's some food you gluttonous varmin, now leave us alone! You're scarin' the children!" But even the children were giving Ruby a perplexed look. Rygdea pulled Ruby back in roughly, making her fall on her bottom. "Ow, why did you do that!"

"Ya feed it and it howls for more!" He barked at her mad, "now get the kids in the cockpit."

"What are you gonna do?" She asked Rygdea, her eyes widening when he went for the shotgun. He loaded it up and reopened the door, poking his head out and shooting each verdelet down one by one.

"Get outta here, ya ugly ass beasts."

**Sazh's airship**

Hope had been the one to hear the gunshots. "What's going on?" He asked.

Then the airship began to shake violently, and Yuna squeaked in surprise, quickly grabbing hold of her son. Viride began to bark, which sounded more like a mouse squeaking and Chocolina began chirping loudly, flying around the airship to warn everyone of what everyone was already experiencing.

"What the hell..." Tidus trailed of staring straight ahead.

Sazh stopped the airship just as a giant Ochu pierced through the window, the glass shattering and cutting up Tidus and Sazh. The Ochu's arm pulled out as it let out a hungry roar, and two verdelets snuck into the cockpit. Tidus grabbed his sword that he had traded with Maqui and began fighting the twisted screeching creatures.

"No man, you go and help the others, I got this." Sazh told Tidus, ushering him into the room where his family was. Sazh pulled out his dual guns and went "Cold Blood" on them. "Old man, new tricks." He said as his trigger finger let loose on his guns. "Punks!" He hollered.

"Tidus!" Yuna cried out to her husband. "What's going on?"

"Ochu!" Tidus told his wife.

"What's it doing?" Hope asked, trying to keep Dajh from sliding.

"It just broke through our window...whoa..."

The three turned around and Ochu was looking through the glass on top of the airship, and when it suddenly disapeared, they all thought the worse. They were next.

"We have to get to the cockpit! Quick!" Yuna cried.

"No! Too dangerous!" Tidus told her, holding her by the shoulders firmly.

"What about daddy!" Dajh cried.

"Your old man's fine. What we need to worry about are these people." Tidus said gesturing to the cot occupants.

The airship shook again, warning the airship occupants of the danger that was headed their way. Then Hope thought, _What would Light do?_ He then got an idea, knowing there was no choice.

"Everyone." Hope took charge, "Out of the beds, now."

"Hope! You can't do that!" Yuna yelled at him.

"Trust me, Yuna." Hope told her. He then slammed the cots down flat making the people that were able to be mobile to bring one. "Everyone, go against the wall away from the glass."

Everyone surprisingly listened to the teenager, even the kids. Tidus had to make Yuna go too after she hesitated. Once Hope was sure everyone was out of harms way, he noticed there were no more cots left. He saw Ochu's arm approaching fast towards the glass. The last second Hope jumped in the availiable space in the corner and glass was everywhere as the arm broke through attempting to grab the occupants, who were too far away from it's reach.

Yuna let out a shaky breath of relief as Hope's plan worked and it roared in anger, pulling out. Not only did the cots help, but Hope had involuntarily used his L'Cie magic to cast a large protect shield.

The airship stuttered then was moving again as it seemed Sazh had regained control. Dajh, even though Hope called out to him rushed to the cockpit, seeing the dead veredelets on the ground, but ignored it when he saw a bruised and battered Sazh still being able to pilot the ship.

"Daddy!" he exclaimed, the chocobo chick squealing in happiness as well as they rushed over to the pilot. Sazh tiredly let his son clamber into his lap, and the chocobo into his hair. He smiled down at his little boy.

**Lightning's POV**

**Man'habara Subterra**

"Hey, we got a problem here." Laguna pointed out when he saw Morrigan hunched over dangerously clutching her swollen belly.

"Morrigan," Bartholomew approached the pregnant woman, "What is the matter, is it your baby?"

"Do not touch me," She snapped slapping his hands away from him, "I am fine...ah!" She let out a short cry of pain followed by a sharp intake of breath as she struggled to stand up straight, but her face was distorted in pain.

"We need to get you to Yuna." Serah said.

"Yuna's on the other airship." Vaan said, "Hope too."

"We're gonna have to go back." Reks said.

"We can't all go back!" Vera protested.

"I'll carry her back." Snow volunteered.

"No!" Serah exclaimed a little too loudly. "Why?" She asked.

"Serah," Snow tried to reason. "I'm sorry, but the airship is too far away. Only I can carry her that far, and what if they're monsters coming in."

"I'm sure Gadot can handle her." I tried to get Snow to stay, for Serah's sake, had he already forgotten her condition? Forget Morrigan. She's not his fiance'.

Lebreau actually laughed at my suggestion. "Yeah, good luck leaving Gadot with a pregnant woman."

"I'm alright. Really." Morrigan tried again, but still sounding strained.

"No buts, I'm taking you to them." Snow said finally, ignoring Morrigan's desperate attempts to swat him away, he managed to scoop her up bridal style making her grunt in pain and crumple within herself.

"What if there are enemies." Serah cried, "you'll get killed."

"Serah, I'll be back. I promise. Sis will stay here with you. See." He tried to assure her, making his way back with Morrigan scowling in defeat.

I tried to reassure Serah but she pulled away from me, Vera and Tifa following close behind her. Why was she doing this again? I stayed with her. I can be there for her. But not if she shuts me out.

It was like she wasn't even acknowleging I was trying.

**General POV**

**Man'habara Subterra**

"Don't worry Morrigan, we'll make it." Snow told the pregnant woman in his arms in his best soothing voice, but it came out instead as a loud whisper that bounced off the tunnel walls and made Morrigan cringe.

"Fine, but you can put me down." She told him.

"You're in pain." he tried to reason with her.

"Tis fine. I am used to walking."

Snow bit his lip, to keep himself from arguing with the woman. Trusting that she won't try to run away, he set her back on her feet. She trudged, dragging her feet, the dirt crunching underneath. "You sure you don't need-"

"We are already walking. I don't need to be carried like a damsel in distress." Morrigan barked back with so much venom it could poison the atmosphere.

"Nobody thinks you're a damsel in distress." Snow tried to reassure her.

"Right." She snapped. "I know what kind of person you are. The 'hero'. You defeat the bad guys, and save women in need of your help. I don't need your help. I made it this far by myself."

Snow stared at Morrigan sadly, watching her vent and clutch her own back to stifle the pain she was obviously in. "But you don't have to any longer." Snow tried again, Morrigan didn't say anything back, "asking for help once in a while, whoever it is doesn't make you weak. It just means you need help. Even Lightning, who I thought was the most indepent woman I ever met now asks for help once in a while when she knows she needs it. I don't think she's weak. She's far from weak. You too."

Morrigan, blew out a labored breath, spreading her legs out further as she walked, hunching over until she stopped walking completely. She breathed out harder, almost sounding like a sob. "Are you worried about your baby." Snow tried to converse.

"She is going to be fine." She told him, very sure of herself. "I might...not."

"Hey...don't say that." Snow warned her. "Your daughter is going to need her mother."

"Mothers..." Morrigan trailed off ominously, "she doesn't need a mother. I am only going to ruin her." The dark haired pregnant woman grunted in pain again, sounding like she was going to cry any minute.

Snow could never handle watching a woman in pain. So even if Morrigan was going to make him pay for it later, he quickly raced to her scooping her back up, holding her close to his chest. Morrigan was in too much pain to fight back, now letting out a pained scream.

"Just hold on, Morrigan." He reassured her, knowing she probably could no longer hear him over her agony.

**Sazh's Airship**

After the encounter with Ochu, Sazh's airship had broke down back at where the survivors originally camped. "Crap!" Sazh swore. "Gonna have to fix it up."

"What about the monsters?" Dajh asked his father.

Sazh looked down at his son in realization. He exited the cokpit, as the others were getting the patients situated back in their original bedding. "Tidus, Hope, bring your weapons and cover me."

"What about..." Tidus trailed glancing at his wife, son, and Dajh.

Sazh retrieved a gun from the weapons locker and handed it to Yuna. "Know how to use a gun?"

"No." Yuna whimpered, but Sazh gave it to her anyway.

"You'll learn fast." He told her, checking to see the area was clear before hopping out the airship. Hope followed the older man, and Tidus kissed his wife.

"You know what to do if you're in trouble?" Tidus asked her.

Despite the situation she smiled, "just whistle and you'll come running."

"I promise." He told her. "You too, squirt." Tidus said to his son, ruffling his brown hair. He hopped out of the airship. Yuna looked down at the gun Sazh gave her, feeling alot more secure then she thought she'd feel.

Hope was surprised to see Snow coming out of the tunnel with Morrigan in his arms, and was about to summon the older men when he saw a pack of borgbears coming toward them.

"Aw, shit." Snow swore, looking down at the unconcious Morrigan in his arms.

"Snow!" Hope called out to him, pulling out his new boomerblade, setting it on boomerang mode. "Let's see this baby **fly**!" The teenager's heart stuttered as soon as he threw it. He thought that the weapon was a dud when it went too far to the right but instead of failing it turned sharply to the left and took down the borgbears. He caught the shining boomerang of steel with his gloved hand, surprised at the damage.

"Nice job, Hope." Snow complimented, "You took them down in one go."

"Morrigan." Hope said approaching the woman in Snow's arms. "What's wrong with her? Is she in labor?"

"No." Snow said, following Hope to the airship.

**Lightning's POV**

We made it out on the other side of the Faultwarrens. Just as Rygdea's airship pulled up. The airship landed and Marlene exited running into Tifa's arms.

"Where's Hope?" Bartholomew barked as soon as Rygdea exited.

"I dunno." He said. "They were right behind us. We got seperated after we got attacked by them verdelets."

"So you left them!" he screamed at him.

"What about Snow!?" Serah cried, worried about her fiance'.

"What? Did your man go back?" Ruby asked.

"Morrigan had complications." I told her. "He took her to Yuna."

"We don't know what happened to their airship." Rygdea told us again.

"So what you're saying," Yuj began, "is that Yuna and her family, Sazh and his son, Hope, and possibly Snow and Morrigan are missing?"

Serah whimpered at the mention of Snow. And Bartholomew punched Rygdea making Ruby and Vera scream. Tifa yanked Bartholomew away from Rygdea when he tried to take another swing.

"Stop it!" Tifa screeched.

"My son was in there!" Bartholomew argued back, eyes wild with anger, and spit flying out of his mouth. "I put him, the sick, the injured, Tidus's family, Sazh and his son on the airship to keep them safe from **harm**! And you're sittin' there tellin' me that you saw them split up from you guys and you left them!"

"We were preoccupied." Rygdea said, standing back back, rubbing his possible broken nose.

Bartholomew looked ready to punch him again, nostrils flaring.

"We have to go back!" Serah screamed, panic overtaking her. "We have to go back for Snow!"

Terra suddenly pulled out what appeared to be a flower shaped crystal from the front of her dress. She then smashed it on the ground, and a bright glow erupted from it, startling the survivors. "Valefor!" She called out. The beam of light shot to the sky and the clouds swirled, a magestic Eidolon swooped in.

"You're a L'Cie!" I said in awe.

"I'll be right back." Terra said, climbing onto the back of the Eidolon, then disappearing the direction Rygdea came from.

"Oh my god." Vera cried. "She's a L'Cie. And she didn't tell anyone."

Bartholomew didn't say anything at first as people began to eighter be thankful to Terra for going or berading her for keeping this to herself. Then he spoke, "I don't care what she is. She's going to get our people back."

**General POV**

"How is she?" Snow asked Yuna and Hope worriedly.

"She's going to be fine." Hope told Snow with a smile. "We just got to make sure she doesn't over exert herself physically."

Yuna glanced over out the window when she saw a flyer approaching Sazh and Tidus who were busy fixing the airship. "Oh my God." She quickly grabbed her gun, gaining a confused look from Snow as she ran past him.

Just as the monster went in for Tidus just as he turned around in surprise, Yuna quickly aimed and shot, in reflex.

The monster automatically fell down and Sazh and Tidus looked over at Yuna in awe, she had the same expression, and she quickly dropped her gun. "Yuna?" Tidus asked his wife, "are you alright."

"Yeah...are you?"

Tidus smiled widely at her, proud that his wife was able to automatically know how to use a gun, and she used it to save his life. Sazh watched the two, smiling proud of her as well. He then heard a soft cry of an Eidolon, and confused looked up to see Terra swooping in on Valefor.

"Oh Goodness..." Yuna whispered, eyes widening when she saw the beast. "You're a L'Cie?"

Terra smiled sheepishly, clearing her throat. "I came to see if you guys are alright? Rygdea said he lost you, and everyone's going crazy. And it's bad."

"Were fine now." Tidus told her. "My wife here saved the day by shooting down one of those...ugly flying Gran Pulse beasts."

"That's not all that has happened." Yuna said, "we were attacked by an Ochu. But we're all okay now."

"Did you see Snow and Morrigan?" Terra asked, peering into the aiship.

"Terra?" Snow asked, as he exited the airship with Hope. "How did you get here?"

"It's a long story." Terra said in embarassingly. "Anyways, do you need help?"

"Nope." Sazh said, having returned to fixing the airship, "We're just...about...done."

**Lightning's POV**

We had set up camp near the Man'habara Subterra, waiting for Terra to return with any sort of news. I approached my sister who was finally alone and away from the blonde instigator and hostile mother bear. "Serah." I called to her, and she looked up from the fire. "I am really sorry. I don't know how many times I have to apologize...Bartholomew told me what you went through while we were on Cocoon."

Serah stared at me hard, "You promised you were never going to leave me."

"I know." I almost begged. "I'm trying. But you're leaving me out of the loop here. I don't know how I can help you if you never tell me what is wrong with you. How will you get better."

Serah let out a sob. "Claire...I can never get better." She said.

My heart stopped when she said that. "What do you mean?" I asked, feeling icy cold despite being in Gran Pulse's heat and in front of a fire.

"One thing after another..." Serah trailed off, tears streaming down her face, "and not once have I had a moment to catch my breath. I never asked for this. I thought that we can go back to how things used to be, but we can't. There's not going to be a wedding...there can never be peace..."

"Serah..." I pleaded, "please...I know you are not happy. But I'm _**trying**_...but I don't know what else to do. Can't you...wait til we get to Oerba. That's where we're going, that's where our home is..."

"Can Oerba really be our home?" She asked almost zombie-like.

"Yes. It can. You and Snow will get married, have kids, you can start a life there. You just have to...have faith..." I said, I almost didn't believe my own words.

Serah curled up to me, crying. "I want to go home. I want...I don't like all this violence. All the people that died. The monsters, everything. I want it all to stop already."

"It will...it will." I whispered to her.

But I didn't even believe it. L'Cie, ex-l'Cie can never be normal. Terra definitely had some questions to answer.

We stayed like that for a half an hour before I heard the sound of an airship. They were back. As soon as the airship landed Bartholomew clambered out of his makeshift desk where he was 'contemplating', and when Hope was one of the people that emerged from the airship he smothered him in a tight embrace.

Snow approached us, and Serah walked past him. Snow looked at me in confusion and I didn't say anything back before Snow followed his fiance for their discussion. Now it left me to get some things done. I went straight for Terra, pulling her by the arm and away from the camp.

Terra didn't resist but she didn't appreciate being pulled away by me eighter. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked her.

She blew her breath, her bangs flopping as she did so. "Where do I start?"

**General POV**

"What?" Snow exclaimed.

"I mean it this time." Serah said, standing up from where she crouched and walking away.

"Come on, baby, don't do this." Snow said as he followed his fiance' throughout the camp. Amodar stood in front of him, blocking Snow from getting to Serah. The eighteen year old stopped walking and turned around to watch.

"Is there a problem, Serah?" Amodar asked, having always been overprotective of both Farrons. This was the first time he actually met Snow, the troublesome rebel who always badmouthed him.

"No, there isn't a problem." Snow said.

"I was asking the lady." Amodar snapped, going into authoriative soldier mode. Snow clamped his mouth shut.

"I just broke up with him." Serah said. "But he won't accept it."

"She's not thinking clearly." Snow tried to say, "She's just mad."

"Never let your lady be mad at you." Amodar jumped.

"But-" Snow tried again.

"What's going on?" Vera asked, sticking her nose in.

Snow narrowed his eyes at her. "None of your business."

"Now is that any way to treat a lady?" Amodar asked, continuing the interrogation.

It was three against one. Snow, defeated walked away, kicking the ground in frustration.

**Lightning's POV**

"So we're still L'Cie." I concluded after Terra told me her story.

"Yes." She confirmed. "That's why your powers are returning. And soon your brands as well as your Eidolons will as well."

"What about Serah and Dajh?" I asked.

"They weren't active L'Cie." She told me, "they didn't go through the full transformation yet, which occurs when you first use magic and when you summon your Eidolon for the very first time."

I sighed in exasperation. Like Serah said, if it wasn't one thing it was another. We can never be normal. "Do you still get a Focus."

"No." Terra said. "I choose not to fight. it's not like the brand can advance. Plus, I can't complete it alone. It's been years...and now I don't even remember what I was even supposed to do."

"So you can be normal." I asked her, hopeful.

"You can. If you really wish to be normal. I know I longed to be normal." She licked her lips in thought, "but is it what you want?"

"Of course." I said. "Who doesn't want to be normal?"

"Not 'does Serah want to be normal?' Do _you_ want to be normal?" She repeated.

I couldn't think of a response. What would my life be like if I were normal? I'd be useless. Serah doesn't need me if I'm useless.

Then it hit me. I was never normal. I was never _meant_ to be normal. Serah can, but not me. Not Snow. Even though Sazh and Hope had families of their own, but they can't be...normal.

A fate of a L'Cie...can never truly be avoided. If you _try_ to be normal, then you're running away. You're quitting. And my father raised me to never be a quitter.

Even if Serah can't accept it now, she will. Eventually. I accepted alot. And now...now I need to focus on the bigger picture.

The survivors. Our next Focus...when it comes...what will it be?

**General POV**

"Hey son," Sazh greeted Snow, who was pouting in front of his airship, "What's got you down in the dumps."

"Dump..." Snow muttered, taking off his bandana and tossing it down on the ground. "Serah called our marriage off."

"Get out..." Sazh exclaimed, "you sure she's serious?"

He held up her engagement necklace and Sazh sucked in a breath. "Ouch. I'm sorry, Snow."

"I still love her though." Snow whispered, looking down at the glinting jewlery. "She was the one."

"Are you sure _she_ was the one for you." He asked the depressed rebel leader.

"Yeah. I never felt this way about another woman before. Ugh...what am I gonna do? What am I gonna tell Sis? Can I even still call her that."

"Now hold on there, don't give up just yet. If you really love her, then you fight for her. Or at least wait it out."

"That was the problem." Snow complained, "she said that I don't spend enough time with her, and if I had been there for her she wouldn't be feeling this..."

Sazh narrowed his eyes at Snow and scouted the scenery before him. "That doesn't sound like Serah..." When he spotted a certain blonde haired survivor, he left Snow to wallow in his post break-up blues to have a conversation. "Hey." he called out to the blonde.

"What?" Vera asked, confused and looking ready to back away.

"You've been gettin' pretty chummy with Serah."

"Well yeah. Somebody has to be there for her."

"Just so you know missy, Snow and Lightning are doing this to keep Serah safe."

Vera rolled her eyes, "Whatever, they are only fighting because they have nothing better to do."

Sazh blinked at the girl's behavior. He blew his breath, pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to five. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"So you just got out of highschool."

"Yes." She answered looking confused by the turn the interrogation had taken.

"Listen, honey. This isn't highschool anymore. This is the real world. Literaly. Stirring up drama among survivors right now is not cute. It's annoying. And I think we can all appreciate it if you stop playing the 'mean girl' and mind your own business."

Vera scrunched her nose up in disgust at the older man's words before she strutted away. Sazh groaned returning to Snow's side, who was now laying flat on his back, the bandana covering his face. "Well?" Snow asked through the bandana when he heard Sazh sit back down tiredly.

"Vera's the culprit. She's the obstacle in your marriage." Sazh told him.

Snow pulled the bandana off his face, looking bewildered beyond belief. "Vera..._wants_ Serah?"

"No!" Sazh exclaimed, but then looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head vigorously. "I mean no! Vera...Vera is feeding Serah these...ideas that you and Lightning are like...not wanting to be with Serah. That you're more worried of playing hero then her well being."

"What!" Snow bellowed gaining a few spectators. "That's bullshit! I love Serah. And I'm only fighting for her!"

"Well there you go, hero. You gotta win Serah back!"

"Yeah!"

**Lightning's POV**

"Light!" Hope called out to me as I was walking through camp. "The boomerblade you gave me is amazing!"

"Really?" I asked, feeling a bit happier to see Hope appreciate my present. "You like it?"

"Yeah! It does some serious damage. I'm not a liability anymore." Hope said, grinning with pride.

"Hope..." I began, making sure I had his attention and he was listening. "You were never a liability."

The teenager looked stunned by my honest comment then blushed.

"Oooh!" I heard Gadot suddenly comment from behind me. "Someone's got a crush..."

"I do not!" Hope denied almost shrilly. I ignored Gadot.

"So, you think you're ready for the next level."

"Damn." Gadot, who still hasn't left added, "Bow chika-wow-"

"I'm talking about sparring!" I barked into his face.

Before Gadot could make another innappropiate joke I pulled Hope away to a safe area where we can train. But somebody was following us...and it was, thank goodness not Gadot, but Viride.

The training session wasn't exactly progressive, since it mostly consisted of me teaching him how to hold a blade properly, and the battle stances, and how to move with it.

"That's enough for now." I told him.

"When do we fight each other?" He asked me.

I grinned at the question. "You're just dying to fight against me with a sword aren't you?"

Hope twirled shyly, holding his blade downward. "Maybe..." he said in a mock ominous tone.

I flicked his forhead. It was then Bartholomew stumbled to our training ground looking like he was searching for his son. "There you are? What are you two doing?"

"I was training him." I told him.

Bartholomew glared at me, and it was then it occured to me that Hope's father did not like me. He _respected_ me, and I respect him...but I don't think he appreciates the time I spend with his son. Not that I really blame him. "Next time, please let me know so I don't run around like a chocobo without a neck."

Hope snorted a laugh and Bartholomew directed his glare back at him. The teenager quickly sobered up, "sorry. I promise dad I'll let you know next time."

"Thank you. Are you done? Come, you need your rest." Before Hope could say anything he was pulled away by his father.

"Uh, good night Light." Hope called back to me.

I watched as his wolfhound pup trotted after the father and son. When I had got back to camp Sazh approached me with a wicked grin. "You have no idea what you missed."

"What happened?" I asked wearily.

"Drama..." Sazh sung. "Snow and Serah broke up-"

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Eh, eh, eh, hold up! Let me finish. Anyway, they broke up, and Snow won her back."

"How?" I asked.

"I don't know!" Sazh said in an excited voice. "He didn't tell me, but it sounds like whatever his idea was...is working. _If you know what I-_"

"Ugh!" I cried, Sazh laughing in my face. "I don't want to know. This is bad Sazh. You know what kind of couple my sister and Snow are going to be if they break up and make up that quickly."

"Don't stress, soldiergirl. Gives you wrinkles. They're young."

"I know. That was the reason I didn't want them to get married in the first place." I rubbed my forhead, trying to relieve the tension. "At least not now, too much is going on."

"Well, they gotta learn these things on their own. Serah's a big girl now. She can't be spoon fed opinions. She's gotta use her own mind. If your sister and Snow were meant to be together then they'll stay together. If they weren't...oh well. Soldiergirl, I know you love your sister and you want the best for her, but you can't protect her forever. You just have to do what you can and let her live her life."

I sighed. Sazh had a point. Serah isn't little anymore. I can't always be there for her. But what I can do is protect her by doing what I've always done. What I've always been good at. Fighting. For her.

**General POV**

"How are you feeling Morrigan?" Hope asked the dark haired woman as he and his father passed by her.

"I am doing much better thanks to your healing magic." She told the silver haired teen.

"You're welcome. Dad...let go." Hope quickly whispered to his father who still had a firm grip on his shoulder. Bartholomew begrudgingly let go of his son's shoulder so he can speak to the strange woman. "To be honest I don't know what was wrong with you. Did Yuna tell you anything?"

"No." Morrigan answered, clearly. "Does not matter what it was, I am better now, as well as Urthemiel."

"But what if it happens again?" Hope asked. "What if it happens again and I'm not there to heal you? What if the magic wears off in the middle of the night?"

Morrigan clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Don't fuss. It's not becoming of a man to whine. I'm sure your father has taught you that, no? I may be pregnant, and dare I say _vulnerable_, but fussing over me like a worried mother goose won't do anything. If something is to happen in the middle of the night, then I will call you. Or you will hear my screams of agony and despair."

Hope's eyes widened at Morrigan's nochalant attitude.

"Ugh, tis a joke, child. Bartholomew you are making your son as uptight as you are." Bartholomew grunted at Morrigan's comment. "Good night."

"Uh...good night." Hope stuttered. He watched as the mysterious woman left, his father pulling him back possessively to rest.

**AN: Wow. Alot has happened in this chapter. And this arc has one more chapter. I know this is a very short arc.**

**And actually this whole story so far is really the prologue before the new L'Cie Focus comes into play. Of course it has to do with Cosmos, Chaos, and this new Primarch. The Eidolons will return. Lots of exciting adventures in the far future.**

**But for now I am focusing on character development and establishing a home and a place for not only our main characters but for the other characters as well.**


	8. And Then There Were Three

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: I'm already aware how short this chapter is compared to my other monster sized ones. But I figured I should end this arc on a more mellow note, after all the action in the previous chapters.**

**Lightning's POV**

I woke up early in the morning, next to a slumbering Terra. I hadn't intended on waking up before the rest of the camp did, but for some reason, Snow was shaking my shoulder, calling my name in a whisper that I hadn't known Snow was capable of.

"You up?" he asked.

"I am now." I muttered. "What is it?"

"I thought we could go scouting ahead and clear the way of any monsters so we don't have a repeat of yesterday." He told me.

I blinked up at him, the sun hasn't even fully come out yet, and Gran Pulse was still in a blue hue. Snow was never one to wake up early to fight, and bring me along out of all people. "Why don't you ask your NORA to go with you?" I asked.

Snow bit his lip. "I'd...rather I went with you." He said, standing back up, towering over me.

Something was wrong. "Fine." I gave in. "But we still need more people. We can't go scouting with just us two."

"I was already thinking of getting Sazh and Hope." Snow told me.

"You can't do that." I said. "Sazh has to stay with his son, and I doubt Bartholomew is going to be happy with you dragging his son out of bed at this hour to scout."

My potential brother in law rubbed the back of his head, a habit he does when he _actually_ doesn't know what to say. Now I was starting to get worried. "If you need to talk to me."

"Not just to you." Snow said, not looking at me.

I sighed, ruffling my hair that was most likely resembling a bird's nest right now. "Fine, get Sazh and Hope. And be very quiet about it."

Snow didn't say anything else as he went off to do just that. I grabbed my gunblade case, just as Terra tiredly opened her eyes, most likely having heard our exchange. "What's up with him?" She asked me.

"With Snow? Who knows." I admited, checking my gun to make sure it was loaded.

Terra stared back at me, even though she was obviously getting ready to go back to sleep, she seemed pretty perceptive and alert even now. "You know him better then I do. What do you think it's about?"

I groaned, because I think I do know what he has to say, but I just didn't want to deal with it. Not at this hour. I was hoping he would hold off until we got to Oerba. "First, it's going to be about my sister. And it also has to do with us still being L'Cie."

"That's why he wants Sazh and Hope with you guys too. I kinda overheard that." Terra admitted. "Can I say something?"

I looked over at the older woman, giving her my attention. "Whether things work out between him and Serah...I think he'll still care for her. Even if she ends up with another man, living happily, he will still give everything to keep your sister safe."

"Yeah..." I trailed off.

"And I think he also cares about you too. A great deal."

That surprised me. "What do you mean?"

"He confides in you, he trusts you, even after all the hate you hurled his way not even long ago. And I think you are starting to care for him too as well. Even if you are not aware of it yet."

I scoffed. "I hope you're not saying what I think you're saying."

Terra shook her head at me, a slight curve of a smile appearing on her face. But her eyes held all seriousness. "I'm not saying you're falling in love with him. And he's definitely not faltering in his affection for your little sister. But I think he sees you as family. You, Hope, Sazh...Fang and Vanille." I smiled at the mention of their names, and Terra smiled even more when she saw me smiling. "Being L'Cie is hard work. Alot of hardship, alot of fighting, alot of pain, and sadness, and loss...but your allies...your fellow L'Cie. There's a **very** strong bond. Nothing can break it. No matter what. Death, duty, and darkness can seperate you...but the bond is still there.

"Trust me," she continued, "I've been a L'Cie before. Even though Celes, Locke, Edgar, and Sabin, just to name off a few, are dead now...I'll never forget. Even when we parted ways before that...we still gravitated toward each other, until we were all together again."

Her eyes got teary when she thought of her deceased former allies, and I hadn't even realied she was holding my hand, her nail tracing the back of my hand. "Maybe...that is why Serah, who isn't a full L'Cie to begin with, and Bartholomew...just don't understand why you _have_ to fight. Why you _have_ to be together. They don't see it. You don't eighter...but you can feel it, can't you?"

It was then, just by Terra's words alone...everything made sense. Why my hatred for Snow had simmered down throughout my L'Cie adventures before it was just not there anymore. Why I often go out of my to help Hope when most kids his age annoyed me to no end. Why Sazh was the only other adult besides my own father and Amodar that I would listen to and not want to disapoint.

Dajh was still a child, and he was happy whenever his dad was. But Serah and Bartholomew were a different story. Both often fight to keep Snow and I and Hope respectively at their side, for fear of losing us. Making them form a strong distaste for the ones who are keeping their significant other from them. That explains Bartholomew's obvious dislike for me, and sometimes Snow.

Sazh is more reasonable and Bartholomew has yet to form a dislike for him as well. They have disagreed at times, but Sazh has yet to be at the receiving end of Hope's father's glare.

As for Serah...now that I think about it she never really associates with Sazh and Hope. She is often placed as Dajh's charge by Sazh, but I don't think she's ever really spoken to him. As for her and Hope, she didn't even know who he was when Snow mentioned that I had given him his boomerblade as a present.

It wasn't posttraumatic disorder or Veras influence (though they play a real major part), but Serah really wants Snow and I to give up fighting to be by her side. And she _knows_ that Sazh and Hope (even though it's Snow and I who initiate) that is getting in the way of our relationship with Serah.

I didn't have much more time to ponder on this theory when Snow finally came back with a cranky Sazh and a half asleep Hope. I got to my feet and followed my allies a ways from the camp.

**General POV**

Lebreau and Tifa woke up not long after the L'Cie left to scout to make breakfast. "Hey." Lebreau greeted awkwardly.

Tifa stopped what she was doing upon hearing Lebreau's voice. "Hey..." She replied.

The two did not forget about their almost fight in the Man'habara Subterra. But Lebreau had decided to be the bigger person and apologize for her behavior. "Hey look, I'm sorry for what happened the other day. Think we can put that behind us."

Tifa smirked at her cooking buddy, "Sure. I'm sorry too. If we're going to cook together, it'd be better if we were friends than enemies."

Lebreau smiled back as she got the fire going again. "See, girls can get along too."

Suddenly Serah joined the two cooks, her eyes swollen from obviously crying. "Hey..." Tifa coaxed the younger girl. "What's wrong? Why were you crying?"

"Is it Snow?" Lebreau asked. "I thought you got back together? Because that's what it sounded like..." the NORA member implied then stopped herself when Tifa and Serah both gave her a look.

**Lightning's POV**

Snow didn't say anything at first. We really did spend the first hour cutting a path. I could see the village straight ahead. So close, but still at least a day away. In that time I was giving Hope basic tips on using his blade, as well as the rest of us regaining control of our L'Cie magic.

I don't know how much longer now before we get our brands and Eidolons back. But when that happens...a new Focus will be placed upon us.

Maybe this Focus will be different since we were free willed L'Cie. Maybe the Focus will actually do more good than bad. I also got to thinking more on what Terra said about this L'Cie bond. And the longer I spent with my L'Cie allies...the more I felt it.

Even though we were in a battlefield, we were bantering. And we knew each other's battle styles and formations and tactics too well that I can easily predict when Snow was going to use steelguard (almost all the time), when Sazh was going to cast haste, and I knew better to panic when I was getting hurt because in one, two, three, Hope came to the rescue with his healing magic.

I honestly didn't think it was possible, but not only was I able to read _them_, they can read **me**. Whenever a machine like monster came across, Snow would say "All your, Sis." Knowing that was what I usually go for first. Whenever I used lightning magic, Sazh was already with his fire magic to fuel the destruction I had already started.

And Hope had to constantly reassure me that he was alright, like he knew I was about to ask.

And I didn't mind it. In fact, it made things more convenient in the battlefield, and for the fights to go more smoothly, whereas if I was with my own Guardian Corps men, they will always find some way to fuck with a perfect system.

Even our Pardigms were in perfect sync, no matter who was calling them.

Arcane Defense & Symbiosis. Switch!

War and Peace & Slash and Burn. Switch!

Slash and Burn & Archmage. Switch!

It was by this point my decision was final.

Until Snow opened his big stupid mouth.

"I don't think Serah loves me anymore." Snow admitted when we finally took our much needed break.

Sazh sucked in his cheek. "Man, you broke up already? Again?"

"Again?" Hope asked, looking out of the loop. "This all happened in one night?"

"What happened?" I asked, trying to keeping my emotions in check again.

"After we went to bed..." Snow trailed off and Sazh cleared his throat knowingly. "After we went to sleep...she had another nightmare."

Hope blew his breath, he too kept his face guarded of any emotion, something he probably learned from me. I have yet to know if it's a good thing or a bad thing.

"We then got to talking," Snow continued, "and she asked me what will happen when we get to Oerba. If I will choose her or to continue fighting."

Silence hung in the air for a long moment as Sazh sighed and shuffled in placed waiting for Snow to continue.

I couldn't tell if Snow stopped talking to keep us in suspense or we really didn't want to know his answer. "What did you say?" Hope asked.

"I..." Snow continued, looking down, "I...didn't say anything." After he said that he looked back up at us, expecting us to give a reaction. While Hope and I remained stoic, Sazh was the only one that got a rise out of it.

"Then what?" He pressed impatiently.

Snow clasped his hands and placed them behind his head exhaling loudly and for what felt like forever. "She asked me, 'You had to think about it?' I didn't say anything. Then she kicked me out of her bed crying. This happened right before I woke you up Sis."

I blinked at Snow's statement, Terra's words echoing in my head. _He confides in you, he trusts you, even after all the hate you hurled his way not even long ago. And I think you are starting to care for him too as well._ I was the first person he came to. "And...?" I asked, keeping up my fascade.

I noticed Hope glance at me from the corner of my eye, but I kept my eyes on Snow. The large man in front of me just stared back at me like a lost puppy. "I...don't know what to do. I love Serah. I really do. I know she is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with...but I can't...be normal."

"And what will happen when your focus comes?" Sazh asked.

Snow blinked at him, then looked at me. "What focus?"

I felt like doing a facepalm. He doesn't know. Of course he didn't, we were so busy with everything else that we didn't even think that he _wouldn't_ know. Terra did say the only other person she told was Sazh, Hope, and Squall and Rinoa.

Rinoa, may she rest in peace, still treated Terra as an equal. But Squall, who already has a strong dislike for L'Cie for some reason became very angry at her for keeping this a secret. And also blamed her for the death of his wife.

Terra also said that same night, after Cloud and Tifa joined up, she pulled Sazh and Hope both aside and explained the same things she told me. About how it's their choice on whether they want to stay 'normal' like she did, or continue to fight.

Even after Terra told me the first time, I had chosen to be with Serah. Even if I couldn't I was still choosing to go back to normal. But then she told me what happened to _her_ L'Cie allies. All of them except her died.

Maybe that was the price for wanting to be normal. All the people you care about, who gave up fighting. The choice did seem too easy, too inviting. In the end, you eighter lost a life, or lost everyone who you cared about. It was a wonder Terra is still the way she is, despite how much she was hurting.

It was then I knew I had no other choice. What if I chose normalcy and Serah died as an effect. Because I never chose to fight. What if Dajh did. And Bartholomew. That was why Sazh and Hope's decision mirrored mine. I expected that now.

But Snow didn't know. "What are you keeping from me? What focus?" He tried again, actually sounding angry.

"Snow..." Hope spoke up, "I'm sorry, but...we can't stop. We are going to have a new Focus."

"Our brands will return." Sazh added pointing to his chest, where _his_ brand use to be.

"And our Eidolons." I added onto the statement.

"Why didn't you tell me." Snow said, backing away.

"It wasn't like we were hiding it, Trenchcoat," Sazh tried to explain to the now angry Snow. "We were going to tell you. We're telling you now."

"But what you're saying is..." Snow trailed off doing that annoying thing he does where he sounds like he can't breathe and his backing away all dramatic. "That I can't be with Serah."

"That's not what we're saying!" Hope tried to explain.

"But if I can't be normal." Snow cried, "that's the one thing she wants. And if I can't give it to her, I'll lose her!"

"I know!" I blurted, no longer able to keep my emotions in check. "I know, it pains me too, knowing I can't be normal. But I can try to be there for her as much as I can until our Focus comes. I'll spend every moment I can with her. But we have no choice!"

"After all that we've done!" The large man argued, "After Fang and Vanille gave their lives for Cocoon. After we finally got her back we still have to fight against our fate! Are you fucking kidding me! That's not free will!" He came charging in our direction and I moved Hope back out of the way as he almost got into Sazh's face. "Are you really going to just abandon your son."

"The hell I am!" Sazh barked back pushing Snow off of him. "But we have no choice."

"I do!" Snow yelled glaring at us three, "I am not going to still be a slave after all this. I'm staying with Serah. And we will get married and have children and I will make her happy." Snow began marching back to the camp and I called back out to him.

"**Snow**! Don't do this! She could die!" Snow stopped in his tracks. "Dajh and Mr. Estheim can _**die**_! That whole godforsaken camp **can **_**die**_!"

"I won't let that happen, Sis." Snow said in his normal voice before walking away.

"Snow!" Hope tried calling out to him. He then crouched down and curled up, gripping his hair.

"Fuck man..." Sazh swore, scratching his his afro.

"What are we supposed to do..." Hope said, voice cracking on the brink of crying.

I plopped down right next to him, rubbing Hope's back as he tried to recompose himself. Sazh and I stared straight at Oerba Village...so close...yet so far.

What will happen when we get there?

**General POV**

When Snow got back to camp, everyone was up. "Snow?" Bartholomew approached the large man, his hair disleveled and holding Dajh's hand. "Was Hope with you?" he asked.

"Yeah. Light and Sazh were just scouting." Snow told him.

Bartholomew let out a shaky breath, pushed up his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Snow looked down at Dajh who was happily playing with Chocolina.

It was then Snow's anger grew. How could Sazh and Hope do this two these people? Dajh is too young to realize this, but Hope was a smart kid. Couldn't he see that his father constantly worried about him. He has nobody else, with his wife gone, and the camp eighter hating him or not really caring for him.

He was also mad at Lightning. She went from being a good influence to a, not necessarily a "bad" influence. The word Snow was looking for was "unhealthy".

"Hey..." Snow began, not really sure what he wanted to say to Bartholomew. "I'm sorry."

Hope's father let his glasses drop back to the bridge of his nose as he stared up at the tall man in surprise. "For what?" He asked.

Snow smiled, seeing a little bit of Hope in Bartholomew when he said that with that dumbfounded look on his face. "Hope's a teenager." Was all he said.

And that was all that needed to be said. It seemed to have summed up quite nicely. Bartholomew even let out a half amused and half exasperated chuckle. "Wow. Yeah." He said with another uneasy laugh. "Good God..."

"Mr. Estheim." Dajh tugged on the older man's hand, "Can I go play with Marlene and the other kids."

"Sure. Go on ahead." He told the six year old, and watched with a wistful expression as Dajh ran to join his friends.

"Remembering when Hope was that age?" Snow asked with a small smile, as he pictured littler Hope.

But instead of smiling Bartholomew looked saddened. "He wasn't as social when he was younger."

"Really?" Snow asked. "I actually believe it. He's kind of a shy one. But I'm sure he had friends."

"Not really." Bartholomew admitted. "Even up until just before the Purge he eighter was with his mother or alone..."

"Bart?" The large man became worried when Hope's father's expression became increasingly sad.

He blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. "Nothing. It's nothing." He then walked away quickly, hunching over as he did so to increase his speed.

"That was weird." Snow stated. He didn't have time to ponder Bartholomew's strange reaction when he finally saw the love of his life, walking by. "Serah!" he cried out, racing toward her.

"Snow!" Serah was hushed when Snow pulled her into a kiss, twirling her as he did so.

"Ugh," Squall groaned, "get a room you two!"

"Quiet son," Laguna yelled from across the camp, "I'm watching this!"

When Snow finally pulled away from Serah, leaving her breathless, she spoke again, "S-Snow. What-"

"I love you! And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I am yours forever!"

Serah looked like she was about to cry from happiness. "You choose me?"

"Always." Snow whispered kissing her again.

**Lightning's POV**

Sazh, Hope, and I stood there and watched Snow's public display of affection with our jaws dropped.

"Shit." Sazh swore.

"He did it. He chose her." Hope complained. "It was really romantic and it makes me wish I had a girlfriend, but still."

I didn't know what to think. I was glad that Serah was happy...but what's going to happen when our Focus comes. Would it just be us three? It did seem that way. And it was obvious that Snow was still angry with us when he hugged Serah and glared at us three.

Did I choose right? Serah is my sister. But what if I really lose her if I do choose to be normal. I couldn't take that chance.

This will never end. We will always be L'Cie. We can never be normal. Not truly.

"We should probably get to the airship." Sazh told Hope. "Wanna come with us, Soldiergirl?"

"I'm gonna stay on the ground." I assured Sazh and Hope.

"Alright then." The dark skinned man called his son over, and the six year old with Tidus and Yuna's son at his side raced to Sazh's airship.

Hope stared at me for a while, like he wanted to say something. He then shook his head and hurried toward the airship.

"So what happened?" I turned around and Terra with Lebreau and Morrigan standing eighter side of her appeared behind me.

"Well?" Morrigan pressed, her hand resting on her baby bump.

It seemed Terra filled in Lebreau and Morrigan on our L'Cie problem. "Snow won't do it."

"Really?" Lebreau exclaimed, actually sounding surprised, "Wow. And here I thought Snow was the first person to agree."

"He promised Serah to stay by her side." I repeated dully.

Morrigan scoffed. "I know she is your sister, but she is proving to be more trouble than she is even worth."

"I advise you to not speak about my sister that way." I snapped at the dark haired woman.

"You have my apologies. But what are you going to do when your Focus emerges. Tis you, your adolescent apprentice, and a geezer with a gun."

"He has...two...guns..." I argued pathetically.

"I rest my case." Morrigan commented, leaving.

"Don't you have some magic where it makes you stronger?" Lebreau asked, handing me a bowl of soup.

"The elements and healing is not enough." I cringed at what I was about to say, "Snow has that damn **steelguard**. And he's the best at ice magic. And when you have fire..."

"He's also your strongest." Terra added. "I mean you're plenty strong. But he's...built for strength."

Who knows what we'll do when the time comes. Snow could change his mind. But...it's Snow. He's too stubborn. The only person that can change his mind is Serah herself. And my relationship with her is so damaged that even if I suggested...

I need to focus on mending what I damaged. Then...when the time comes...

It looks like it's just up to Sazh, Hope, and I.

**AN: And that concludes this arc. The next chapter we finally get to Oerba Village. And the focus will shift between the L'Cie and the other survivors, so look forward to that.**

**Also, when I was writing the whole confrontation scene between Snow and the L'Cies I was listening to Lightning's Theme. I could easily picture that scene as a cutscene from the game with it playing in the background.**

**Also the song, "Lead me Home" by Jamie n Commons played as soon as Snow left the L'Cie. I love with when my playlist sets the mood.**


	9. Welcome Home

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: So...we are now in Oerba. This part of the journey is already over.**

"Brr!" Ruby blurted when we got to the outskirts leading into the abandoned village. "It's so cold here! I'm gettin' goosebumps!"

"What's with the sudden weather change?" Yuj asked.

I remembered during the L'Cie adventures when we finally made it this far. We were so used to the Pulsian heat that we had shedded most of our clothes. I had discarded my waistcoat, and my cropped turtleneck was unzipped enough for me to breathe, much like it was now, except now my hair had grown longer and I only remember now that I was still wearing Serah's hair holder in a high side ponytail that probably almost resembles my younger sister.

Prepared for the abrupt cold weather that was Oera Village, I had zipped my sweater back up and let my hair loose, also putting on my waistcoat. When Sazh, Hope, and even Snow were doing the same thing, everyone looked at us like we were crazy.

"It's the crystals." Sazh explained. "I'm sure with time it'll warm up."

Yuj groaned, "Now I gotta start from scratch." He pulled out his sketchpad and tossed it into the blanket of crystal snow.

I saw Snow shrug off his coat and wrap it around my younger sister, far a ways from us. I haven't spoken to eighter one of them since the argument with Snow. And from what I can tell neighter had Sazh and Hope.

Nobody else noticed (or cared). And then we were there.

We were back in Oerba. Fang and Vanille's home.

Our home.

The 'Council' as we called it, which consisted of Bartholomew as the head, then Amodar, Sazh, and Rygdea spoke amongst each other while everybody took a deep breath, pleased and overjoyed that they were no longer nomads.

I decided now was the chance to speak with Serah again. I approached the pair.

Snow saw me first, and instead of waving and grinning like a goofball, he watched me expectantly while Serah smiled brightly at me, tears in her eyes. "We finally made it!" She pulled me into her arms, and my heart fluttered in warmth and happiness that my little sister still loved and cared about me. "I didn't think we would but we're here."

When she pulled away, I wiped away the tears from her eyes. She giggled. I got my Serah back. "We're home."

She hummed, her face flushed from the cold, pulling Snow's trenchcoat closer around her. "We're home. And we wouldn't have made it here if it weren't for you and Snow."

Snow approached us and kissed Serah on the cheek. "And don't worry, I will always be here for you."

"I know you will, Snow." Serah said back.

"Me too!" I almost blurted. "I mean...I'll always..." I glanced between the couple, this wasn't like me. I never speak before I think. "I'll always-"

"Attention everyone!"

Thank you Sazh, I silently said as he called for all the survivors. "There are sixty two homes. And from the looks of them, two bedrooms in each one. A master bedroom, and a room for two."

"Wait," Cloud interrupted, "are you saying we might have to share amongst _each other_ not just family."

"Well, that's just about." Bartholomew answered. "One house, according to our calculations will only have two people in it."

"We call it!" Vaan exclaimed, grabbing a hold of his brother, who face palmed.

"Me and my mama can have that room!" Harry also yelled out.

"Uh-huh!" Ruby argued, probably wanting to share a house with Rygdea.

"And..." Amodar cut in... "there will be a few houses where only three can reside. But keep in mind, you might end up having to share with someone if people are by themselves and such."

The survivors began conversing amongst themselves about the arrangement and about how it was BS.

Which it was. I'm sure in the end one of us is going to end up having a house all to ourselves, and nobody will say squat. But there is also...

"So who gets the house with just two?" Squall asked.

"Patience, y'all. Goddamn." Rygdea drawled, "You guys are as antsy as a bunch of kindergarteners on a fieldtrip bus wantin' a potty break. We already decided who was going to get the room with just the two."

"We have decided," Bartholomew began, "that Serah and Snow should get that room, based on Serah's condition."

Morrigan snorted. "Of course she gets the room with her hubby." She dropped a particularly large stack of lumber, piling it on top of a heap of wood and twigs and other junk that seemed to pop out of nowhere.

Wait a minute, how did she even carry all that when we were walking this way? Was she even with us?

"Morrigan, what are you doing?" Bartholomew asked, approaching the pregnant woman.

"Tis where we will live, yes?" Morrigan asked in an innocent tone. "I am building a home."

I could of sworn crickets chirped after she said that, like it was a bad joke. "Aw, lady..." Rygdea said, rubbing his long brown hair, "All these houses already set up nice and dandy for you...and you want to build one? Out of lumber? In the cold? By yourselves? While you're pregnant." He glanced at us all, "Am I the only one finding this ridiculous beyond belief."

"You heard your self appointed leader." Morrigan continued making Bartholomew grunt in offense, "We would have to share. _Share_? No." Then she started her work on her shack right then and there.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tidus called out to her. "At least wait for somebody to help with that."

"She's fine." Bartholomew grunted again, seeming fed up with Morrigan.

The woman seemed very adamant on not sharing a room and continued to build her...

What was she even building? A hut? A shack?

Anyways, while only a few spectators watched Morrigan work, Bartholomew dismissed us to select a home.

"Miss Farron." He addressed me, "could you come with me please. I have something I wish to speak with you."

**General POV**

After about a half hour, most everyone else had selected their homes, except for maybe a few who were wandering around idly.

Cloud had went with Vaan and Reks to scout out the entire village in case any fiends resided in the abandoned village. And by this time, the blonde haired swordsman was ready to find his new home. "Where's Tifa?" Cloud asked Ruby who was fussing with her son about something (as he ran away from her).

"Uh..." She looked around and pointed to one of the houses before going back to scolding her son, running as fast as she could in her heels, which she refused to take off in the snow.

Cloud approached the house Tifa was in, and the dark haired bartender turned around in surprise. "Cloud? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Where's Marlene?" He asked, ignoring her question.

"Playing with Dajh and Ainu." She said, but she still sounded surprised, and a bit of something else. "You're not...you don't think you're staying here, do you?"

Cloud blinked at her. "I'm not." He asked, but it sounded more like he was stating in a monotone voice.

"Well..." Tifa trailed off, "we haven't been living together in the past year, so how did you figure we would now? Because then you'll be on your own. I thought you prefered it that way."

"Tifa," Cloud said in his usual annoyed way, "you still don't understand."

Tifa slammed her box of liquor that she got from Maqui on the kitchen island, dust and crystal flying up. "And maybe I never will. But I'm not just waiting around for you to finally come to your senses that she's gone."

Cloud flinched at her words, but recomposed himself before she caught it. Suddenly the sound of the door swinging open interupted the strained married couple's argument, as Laguna and Squall walked in.

"Tifa, we're home!" Laguna called out stupidly. Upon seeing Cloud there, he stopped and Squall facepalmed. "Ooh...are we interupting something."

Cloud snapped his attention to Tifa. "You're letting **them** move in?"

Tifa just shrugged, not exactly having a response for that. "I just asked if anybody needed a room. Laguna volunteered."

"Of course he volunteered! He's a pervert! He's just hoping to get a glimpse of you in your underwear or something. And you got Marlene here too!"

"Whoa whoa!" Laguna clunked in front of the two squabblers, "I'm not a pedophile."

"But you _are_ a pervert." Squall added in his two cents, still standing by the door, now donning his black leather fur coat.

"Well, yeah." Laguna said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Cloud just shook his head in disgust as he left the house.

**Lightning's POV**

"You want me to move in with you and Hope?" I repeated after Bartholomew got finished with his stalling and lengthy explanation.

"Yes." He said, not seeming pleased with the decision he obviously came up on his own.

"But why?" I asked.

He sighed, pushing up his glasses and folding his hands over as he sat across from me in the Village Proper while everyone else scattered about to get used to the Village. "You and I both know that we often...come to a discord."

"I suppose that's one way to put it." I said, thinking about all the stern glares and possessive hand on his son's shoulder, and even the way he addresses me as 'Miss Farron' had a certain animostic edge to it. "But my son does have in fact a strong admiration for you, almost an infatuation."

I laughed, which came out more as an uneasy blow of my breath, "I think it is more of admiration..." he narrowed his eyes at me, "-or just somebody he looks to as a leader. A companion..."

This wasn't going well. But Bartholomew seemed to put that aside, adjusting his glasses once more and clearing his throat, "At any rate, if my son would rather spend more time with _you_ than his own father, then he should also be with somebody that's willing to keep him safe."

"I assure you, Mr. Estheim." I said, "Your son is safe with me."

Then I saw something that I didn't expect. Bartholomew smiled. He actually smiled. And it wasn't a good smile eighter. It was a smile that will make me regret my previous statement. "That's what I wanted to hear." He abruptly stood up and walked away.

"Wait!" I called out to him, standing up. "That's it? No payment."

"Why, Miss Farron..." He turned around slowly and ominously, "We are all, this whole village a family now. We look out for each other now. Like how you look after my son. Like how I look after your sister. Like how everyone is willing to look after Dajh and the other children. That's what family does. There's no payment when it comes to family."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Then why do I not believe you?"

He chuckled, tapping the side of his head and winked before he made his way to his house. Whatever that meant.

I felt very uneasy at the idea I was now living with the Estheims. Of course it wasn't because of Hope.

**General POV**

Rygdea and Ruby entered the house that now belonged to the two plus Harry. "Ah!" Ruby squealed. "Ain't this a cute little home! It reminds me a lil' of my old house when I was a lil' gal!"

Rygdea laughed at his lover's outburst. "You know, we have some property in this here village. Tifa and Lebreau are starting a bar/restaraunt, Maqui is opening up his shop 'Lenora's Garage', Yuj has a clothing store..." He wrapped his arms around Ruby from behind and whispered in her ear, "And you have a theatre house."

Ruby bounced back after she heard the news. "Oh my..." she gasped, looking for the first time ever speechless, "you bought me a theatre house..."

"Not bought. Claimed really. We don't have currency yet."

Ruby jumped up kissed Rygdea full on the mouth, "that has been my dream! To become an actress!"

"I know doll, that's why I got it for you."

"Rygdea..." She sighed, "...you make me the happiest woman in the world...I know all this...Cocoon falling and whatever song n dance is goin' on up there, has been one of the worst things I've ever had to deal with. But...I'm happy that it made me meet you."

Rygdea kissed her again. "Ugh!" Harry suddenly exclaimed when he entered the house. "Geez, can't go a day without you two goin' all smoochie smooch all up on each other."

"You're right." Ruby said pushing Rygdea away and approaching her son. "But I got some news for you! Mama's gonna be an actress! I got my own theatre and the first thing I'll do is put on a performance."

"Uh," Rygdea interupted, "you might have to wait a bit before you can get some decent actors-"

"The first play is gonna be a one woman show!"

Harry cringed. "Yay..."

**Lightning's POV**

"No." I said about to walk right back out of Yuj's Outfitters, his new clothing store. The blue haired man quickly grabbed my arm then pulled back, flinching.

"Come on," Yuj tried to persuade, "do you really want to run around this village in a crop top and a miniskirt?"

"I didn't pick this out, it's my Guardian Corps uniform."

"For real?" Yuj asked. "Wow. Whoever designed the woman's uniform was definitely a pervert. He was probably really horny one day and was like 'From now on, all female officers will be required to wear **tiny miniskirts**!' "

I rolled my eyes. "But why do I have to take my clothes off?"

"You only have to strip into your bra and underwear. Wear the boots if you want I really don't care. I ran out of time to come up with a real legit design so I'm just going to extrend the sleeves and make a coat, maybe give you some pants if you want. I'm sure I have some old pants that can fit you. Don't worry their not too manly. Though I doubt you care on looks."

Yuj ushered me to a backroom where Lebreau, Terra, and Morrigan were already waiting in their underwear. "It won't be long now!"

Slam!

"Yuj is having a ball." Lebreau commented. "He's lovin' fixing up everyone's clothes, even if it is just tweaking!"

"So Morrigan," Terra asked, curling up to hide her floral panties and strapless bra, "what are you going to do about your...hut?"

"I am already done." The pregnant woman said nochalantly, rubbing her visible, swollen belly.

The three of us exchanged a look, running past Morrigan to peek out the window.

And there it was, a simple hut big enough for at least one person to sleep and eat. It seemed very practical of Morrigan...

...but how did she build that sturdy house in two hours?

"I take it you three have found yourselves homes?" Morrigan continued the conversation like nothing odd just happened.

"I'm the only girl in the NORA house." Lebreau stated. "I've always lived with them, they are the ones I am most comofrtable with."

"And Bartholomew offered me a place at his house with Hope." I said.

Terra looked up quickly, masking her face of surprise. "You're living with them?"

I suddenly felt guilty. I forgotten that Terra was also an odd one out of the survivors. At least I had my sister and the L'Cie, but she had no one.

"What's wrong? Haven't found a home yet, Terra?" Lebreau asked considerately.

"Well," Terra glanced at me and I saw her cheeks tinge a slight pink, "Reks had offered to let me stay with him and his brother. I didn't give an answer yet. I said I was going to to think about it in case..." She looked up knowingly at me.

"I'm sorry Terra. I..."

"It's okay, Lightning." Terra said with a sad smile. "It's no big deal. At least I have a place waiting for me."

After we spent some more time talking about what life will be like in Oerba, Yuj bursted back in holding new 'winter' clothes in his hands.

Lebreau, upon Yuj's instruction had unclipped her bangs to 'protect her forhead from the cold', and she was now wearing a white puffy long sleeve v-neck shirt with yellow jeans, red boots and a purple butterfly design jacket.

Terra wore a red tank with a white floral jacket, her long curly blonde hair released from it's high ponytail and pulled over her shoulders, she also wore white floral dress pants and she continued to wear her red boots.

As for me, I was worried that Yuj was going to absolutely destroy with something 'trendy' and 'fashionable'. But I was pleased with my extensions.

My cropped top now covered my navel, and Yuj produced some brown baggy battle pants, and my waistcoat was now a coat.

"You girls look fabulous!" He sung out the last part like he was in a movie.

Morrigan was evaluating herself closely in the mirror, her dark bun now released into a chin length due, she wore her purplish hoodie (now with sleeves), though her bra was visible, and that was about the only difference in her looks. "I am content with the changes you have done to my rags."

Yuj let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

**General POV**

As the girls left Yuj's Outfitters, more people began to pile in. They could hear Yuj giggle in delight. When they split up, Terra thought it a good idea to speak to Reks about the arrangement.

Luckily, the room was still availiable.

"Don't worry," Reks explained when they entered Terra's new room, "we will give you privacy. It can be awkward for a much older woman to be living in a house with two twenty years olds."

Terra rose an eyebrow at that.

"Not that you're _old_," Reks tried to cover, "just..._older_."

"Thanks." Terra said in a sarcastic tone, "that is so sweet."

Vaan popped his head in, "Hey roomies!" He said excitedly.

"Vaan, get out! She needs space." He smiled back at her, "see I got your back."

Terra nodded slowly as the brothers exited the room. She laid out flat on top of her bed, her long hair flairing out from under her.

The brothers were still arguing in the kitchen trying their best to whisper. "What!" Vaan whispered loudly, "You can't call dibs on her!"

"Yes I can," The older brother said in a cocky tone, "I'm older, so I'm closer to her age. I'm more mature and I fought longer than you have so I can protect her."

"You're not mature if you have to call 'dibs' on a thirty four year old." The younger brother told him.

"But, nevertheless, I always get the girl."

"That's just it. You always get the girl. Can I get the girl for once?"

Reks laughed out loud. A long hysterical one like Vaan told the best joke in the world. The younger brother frowned as Reks wiped away a tear from all the laughing. "You..." more laughing, "think you can get a girl!" He sobered up abruptly, momentarily creeping Vaan out, "Brother, I'm only telling you this because I love you, and I know you. You're the funny and mischievous brother, Penelo is...was the smart and responsible twin sister of yours, and I'm the strongest and most handsome."

Terra suddenly spoke out from her room, "I can hear you two, you know." She said dejectedly.

Reks suddenly sprinted out the house, and Vaan looked after him, bewildered before following after him. Terra sighed still in her room and laying on the bed, and covered her eyes with her arm.

**Lightning's POV**

I spent the rest of the day in Sazh's airship with it's owner and Hope. And Viride who was playing with her owner.

"Ah!" Sazh yelled stretching, "Finally! We're home!"

"Where's Dajh?" Hope asked, trying to teach his wolfhound to jump.

"He's playin' with the other kids. I'm glad he's makin' friends." Sazh said with a smile on his face, "We got a place on our own, and you're superior, soldiergirl is stayin' with us."

"That is fine." I said not really caring. I noticed that Sazh didn't get a clothes change, since he was already dressed for winter weather, but Hope's poncho...jacket...thing had sleeves now, and his cargo shorts were now pants.

I had to give Yuj credit with make extensions on our clothing without making them look like they were. And I was skeptical on wearing one of Yuj's old pants, but as to be expected of the fashionista he kept it in good condition, even for something he could no longer wear. And they were more comfortable and easiar to move in than the miniskirt.

Not to mention I was now warm in my coat.

"So who are you staying with, soldiergirl?" Sazh asked.

I glanced at Hope was was still playing with his dog only half listening, "I'm living with Bartholomew and Hope." As expected, the teenager looked up in surprise and instant excitement. He even gasped.

"Nuh-uh!" He said his eyes wide, and his dog jumped up on his leg wondering why he stopped giving her attention. "Really!?"

"Why?" Sazh asked.

Of course Hope was still getting giddy about his 'favorite and only mentor' living under the same roof as him, but Sazh had also noticed Bartholomew's mild dislike for me and an even milder one for Snow. So I wasn't the only one finding him asking me upfront to move in with him and his son strange in the slightest.

I shrugged, "I don't know."

Both of Sazh's eyebrows rose at my response, whether it was the fact I didn't know why, or just because I never admitted I didn't know something.

"But who cares!" Hope continued to dance happily with his wolfhound, "it's going to be great with you around!"

I smiled up at him and Sazh even grinned at the teenager.

_"But my son does have in fact a strong admiration for you, almost an infatuation."_

_"I think it is more of admiration..." _

"Hey soldiergirl," Sazh interrupted my thoughts, "Have you seen your sister?"

"Yes." I answered. "We're getting along again. And she seems much happier then through the journey."

"Glad to hear it." Hope responded, "for a while there, I was worried that your sister and you wouldn't get along, especially after our talk with Snow."

"Snow's not mad anymore." I told him, "It's Snow, he never stays mad."

"I thought you said he's stubborn." Hope asked.

"Yeah, he is. That's why he's not with us and is with his fiance'."

**General POV**

Snow and Serah sat on the outside of Fang and Vanille's house, now their house. The younger Farron rested her head against Snow's shoulder. "This is so romantic." She sighed.

"All we need. Just you and me." The large man leaned over and kissed Serah deeply and romantically. Until...

"AH!" Serah pulled away with a scream.

"What!? I'm sorry I-" He then noticed a little robot wedging itself inbetween Snow and Serah.

"What is THAT!?" She asked, backing away.

"Don't worry, babe, it's just Bhakti."

"A what?"

"Vanille's pet robot."

"Vanille has a pet robot?" Serah asked staring at the robot that was looking up at Snow blankly. It opened up it's screen.

" 'Welcome back, Snow.' " Snow read, he then grinned looking back up at his wife, "Hey! The little guy remembered my name."

Serah shook her head, "He's not staying with us, is he?"

"What?" Snow asked, "why not?"

"Snow!" Serah exclaimed like Snow had forgotten the most important thing that mattered, "It was supposed to just be you and me. We can't care for somebody's pet...robot. What if he breaks down."

"I think I can fix him." Snow tried to persuade, "And beside, Sazh fixed him...before..." he saw the crestfallen look Serah had now as she lowered her eyes. "But I bet...uh..." he looked around quickly for a new home for the little guy, "little Harry will love to have a pet robot."

Serah's face lit up when Snow said that, and this made Snow smile as well. He loved seeing his fiance' happy. "Thank you, Snow."

Snow picked up the little robot and made his way to Rygdea's house.

"Knock, knock." Snow said as he knocked on the door.

"Hey!" Rygdea greeted and Harry waved.

Suddenly the ten year old's eyes widened and he jumped up from where he was sitting approaching the large man. "Cool, robot!"

The rebel leader set the robot down on the ground and Bhakti opened up his screen again.

" 'Hello' ". Harry read. "Howdy!"

"That's a mighty neat toy you got there, Villiers." Rygdea complimented.

"He's not mine." Snow said, "and he's not a toy. He's Vanille's, er, one of the women who sacrificed her life, pet robot. Bhakti."

"Bhakti." Harry kneeled down so he can get a better look at Vanille's treasure.

"You like him? If you want, you can have him."

"Really?"

"Why?" Rygdea asked.

"Serah thinks it's weird to have him around." Snow explained, "guess she's still getting used to Pulse. Excuse me, Gran Pulse." Snow thought that Fang would have smacked him upside the head if he made that mistake.

"Can we keep him Rygdea?" Harry asked, hugging the robot like he was a new dog.

"I don't know..." The Calvary member said crossing his arms. "I don't think your mama would like the robot too much. She seems more-"

Just then Ruby bursted in carrying a stack of paper, "Hey, honey, could you ask eighter Dalan or Maqui for some more paper. This script is gettin' to be-" She then saw the robot and dropped all her papers, it flying around. "Oh! What a cute lil' robot!"

"Can we keep him mama, Serah and Snow don't want him no more." Harry asked, tugging on his mother's skirt trying to pull the cute and innocent ten year old card.

"Well of course you can, baby!" Ruby replied, "it's gonna be so much fun havin' the lil' guy around!"

Snow sighed in relief. He can trust Rygdea, Harry, and even Ruby to take care of Bhakti. He owes Vanille and Fang _that_ much. Though of course he would have taken the robot in himself if Serah hadn't been against it.

But his fiance' comes first always. And that's a promise.

**Lightning's POV**

That night, I retired with Hope to our new home. Expecting it to be just Hope, Bartholomew, Viride, and I, I was not expecting to be sharing a room with...

"Miss Farron, I hope you don't mind this sudden arrangement." Bartholomew explained as my new roommate entered our room. "Like I said there are some people who we might have to take in since they are singled out."

I only nodded as Bartholomew entered the same room Hope and Viride went into. I walked into mine and Cloud's room as he set his giant broadsword against the wall, assuming he claimed that side of the room.

Luckily, Bartholomew gave Cloud and I the room with two beds instead of the one double bed, I momentarily felt bad for Hope who was now forced to share with his father. "I thought you were married to Tifa?" I asked, not sure why Cloud was by himself.

"She kicked me out." He stated, kicking his boots off.

"Oh." Was my 'intelligent' response to the confession. I took off my own boots and shyly dropped my pants, thankful I kept my undershorts on underneath them. I crawled into my own bed, just as Cloud began taking his shirt off.

I looked away, giving Cloud some privacy. When he was done, he entered his bed as well. Both of us just stared up at the ceiling in an awkward silence. "Good night." I said unsure of what else to do.

Well I could sleep, now that I thought about it.

"Night." he said, turning over so he was facing the wall, his back to me.

I blew my breath, my bangs falling then flopping back down. I looked around the room and conveniently the light switch was near me, I reached over and we were shrouded in darkness.

**General POV**

Snow and Serah laid together that night in their bed. Yuj had made Serah, along with her new light pink sweater, something 'special' for the nights with Snow.

It was see through red lingerie that she wore over her white bra and panties.

Snow was quite pleased with it and reminded himself to thank Yuj the next morning.

But right now they were enjoying their new home that they have all to themselves. No roommates, no robots. No danger. Just them two, the soon to be married couple. Snow silently played with Serah's long curly hair, that she had let down for the night, and Serah was tracing her pink delicate nails lightly across Snow's strong and muscular chest.

"I think I want to be a teacher." Serah whispered suddenly. "I saw the Oerba schoolhouse, and as soon as I walked in there, seeing the children playing, I knew. I want to teach them."

Snow smiled down at his future wife, "That's great." He said, leaning in to kiss her. The kiss quickly became heated and Snow began caressing Serah's leg, tracing the creamy smooth skin up to her thigh. Serah wrapped her leg around Snow's waist as he began to kiss her neck, emitting a soft moan from her.

**Lightning's POV**

I couldn't sleep. After three hours of tossing and turning, trying not to wake my suddenly new, unfamiliar, and male roommate, I realized I couldn't sleep.

It seemed I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep as I heard noises coming from the kitchen and Hope actually swear, no doubt something he picked up from one of us. I pulled my pants back on and entered the kitchen and Hope stood up straight pulling the 'I did nothing wrong' act.

Of couse Viride foiled his plans by burping, having eaten whatever it was Hope fed her. Viride was becoming a spoiled little princess.

"Can't sleep eighter?" I asked.

Hope only shrugged, "Guess this house just gets some getting use to. Plus my dad mumbles in his sleep and he's a bed and blanket hog. Go figure."

I laughed at the image of an unamused Hope staring up at the ceiling while Bartholomew took over half of Hope's side, muttering incoherently about responsibilities and mumbo jumbo. And as expected, feeding Viride was just an excuse to escape.

The teenager sat on the worn couch that was underneath the window that looked out the rest of the village. "I just keep thinking about the fact we're still L'Cie. What are we supposed to do when our Focus comes, get up and leave. And where do we go?"

I had almost forgotten about that. Oerba may be our home now, but there's no guarentee on how long it may remain the L'Cie's home. And with Snow being thankfully loyal to my sister, it would just be Hope, Sazh and I.

I'm sure Amodar will look after Dajh, and Bartholomew will be angry that his son will be taken away from him...again. But would Serah go back to hating me, even with Snow with her.

Today was probably the first time I've seen my little sister smile genuinely and happily. And we were finally close again. But I feared that this Focus was going to ruin all that.

I sat next to Hope, patting down his hair. Viride jumped and growled lowly at me, jealous that I dared put my hands on her master. "Viride." Hope barked lowly in a demanding voice that I couldn't help notice sound like me, "Behave."

The wolfhound narrowed her green eyes at me before sitting back down on the floor. "I really should get some sleep." Hope said, "Terra said that she's starting classes tommorrow, since she's a teacher and all. And my dad really wants me to go."

"Oh..." I said, trying to hide my disapointment at the thought of returning to the room with Cloud.

"Sorry that my dad sprung him on you like that." Hope commented when he saw my hesistance to return.

"It's just strange sharing a room with a stranger." I whispered, in case Cloud could hear us. "Not the first time that's happened. Remember _our_ first night?"

Hope smiled slowly, "yeah, it was just after Snow stayed behind to help Serah. It was just you, and I, and Sazh...and Vanille. We hadn't even met Fang yet."

"You miss her." I noticed. Everytime we brought up Vanille I noticed his eyes sadden. I had a feeling he probably developed a small crush on her during our adventures, right up until we found out about her and Fang.

Hope just smiled, "I miss her smile. It...whenever I felt down during our adventures, she will be right by my side to cheer me up. She was always so upbeat. It made me happy when she smiled."

I felt kind of awkward having to listen to Hope gush about Vanille about this. I don't know why I felt that way, I just...did.

"I miss Fang too," Hope quickly recovered, "even though we didn't really talk _as_ much. She was also very strong. Anyways, don't worry about Cloud. Actually, I think you two might get along."

"How do you figure?"

"You guys act _alot_ alike, it's almost scary. You also kinda look alike."

I blew my breath amused, "Good night, Hope."

**AN: I know this chapter is kinda boring and uneventful, but I was just establishing where everyone was living and what everyone was doing. Next chapter will have action in it!**


	10. Swords and Pencils

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: Okay, so I just saw the new Lightning Returns trailer, where Snow is a mayor of this city. If I wasn't already eager to get my hands on that game, I am certainly wanting too now! I've only played 13. Not 13-2 so I don't know Noel or Caius and Yeul too well. I did see the ending and only few cutscenes, and I read up on them so I won't be confused when the game does come out.**

**Warning: Smoking.**

**General POV**

Yuna heard a noise when she woke up. She was the only one up, her husband and son still fast asleep in their beds. Nervous and curious at the same time she decided to investigate. She had considered maybe waking Tidus, but he has been working so hard that Yuna didn't want disturb him. So she exited her house, after she got dressed, and hugged her new yellow puffy jacket closer to her when the cold air bit her skin.

Nobody was awake yet, so it must be much early in the morning, also the sun looked like it was _just_ coming up.

Yuna heard a crunch and a thump coming toward where they had first arrived. Maybe it's just the breeze, Yuna tried to convince herself. But she still found herself trembling in fear. Swallowing hard she decided to check out the cause of the thumping so she can put her mind to rest.

Unfortunately it was not just the breeze but a giant behemoth. Yuna never saw one before. The great beast turned around, it's tails waving in the wind. The brunette's breath caught when their eyes connected.

The behemtoh sneered, slowly approaching her, a predator apporaching it's prey. Yuna suddenly couldn't breath, and she felt numb and frozen. But her body was commanding her to back away. Every step she took back, the behemoth took forward. And because of it's astonishing size, one step was like five.

So the behemoth was actually coming closer to Yuna without even trying. The nurse still struggled for breath, not knowing whether to scream, or run, or fight. None of the choices looked like it was to end well.

When the behemoth was probably ten feet away, it stood on it's hind legs, like a person, and drew a giant sword. Yuna fell back in shock and the behemoth began walking again, swinging his sword sinisterly. Yuna couldn't scream, but instead she put her fingers into her mouth and whistled as loud and as hard as she could.

Tidus surprisingly heard the whistle, his eyes snapping open. Yuna wasn't by his side, and his heart leaped. "Yuna!" He cried, not even stopping to get completely dressed, grabbed his sword and ran out in just his yellow boxers, his son exiting his room sleepily.

**Lightning's POV**

I woke up to the sound of whistling and Tidus yelling for his wife. My soldier instincts kicking in, I threw the covers off of me and quickly shoved my feet into my boots, not caring how they fit. I heard Cloud shuffling behind me into his shirt and boots. We grabbed our coats and our swords and left at the same time, Hope and Bartholomew following after us.

Most of the village began flying out their houses when we suddenly heard a roar of a behemoth.

Tidus was facing it off, in just his boxers, Yuna running towards Tifa, who moved her so Tifa was standing in front of Yuna. All of us except for Vera, Serah, Ruby, Yuna, and Snow, worked together to defeat the behemoth.

"Go get your wife home, boy, we'll cover you!" Sazh told Tidus. The blonde nodded, quickly getting Yuna out the scene. Ruby and Vera watched in terror as the rest of us fought. The behemoth casted thundaga on most of the fighting party, but thankfully Terra was able to counterreact it with her sword, but she ended up getting knocked down from the blow.

It was at this moment I realized how bad some of the other fighters were. The only decent ones were Hope, Sazh, Amodar, Cloud, Squall, Morrigan, Rygdea, and Terra. NORA did more squabbling then actually fighting, while Lebreau was busy breaking them up, Vaan and Reks kept stumbling over each other, Tidus seemed to be trying to show off, same as Tifa, and Laguna was still getting used to fighting with a mechanical leg.

Bartholomew was not a fighter so I forgave him when he kept missing the behemoth with his gun. But it seemed I wasn't the only one noticing this. Amodar literally stopped fighting and watched everyone fail horribly and shook his head in disapproval. Sazh and Hope were casting magic until he staggered, then Cloud launched him up and Squall jumped up to fight it while Rygdea was shooting at it.

Morrigan handed Terra a potion for her injury while Hope casted some healing magic her way. The behemoth was down.

Everybody cheered except for Amodar. "That was a mess." He stated bluntly. Everyone stopped and stared at him. "What was that? You were all over the place!"

"We aren't soldiers." Tifa yelled back, "don't expect us to be perfect robots-"

"Don't you sass me!" My lieutenant barked at her. This shut her up and I fought to keep a smug grin from showing on my face.

"What's going on?" I heard my sister ask, suddenly appearing and tugging her light pink sweater tighter around her body. She appeared to have only just woken up now.

Sazh quickly jumped almost directly in front of her, shielding her from seeing the behemoth, and his son and Chocolina mimicked him. "Nothin'."

Serah's eyes widened in worry.

"Vera," Bartholomew called for the blonde woman, "could you take Serah to the bathhouse."

Vera didn't say anything as she gestured Serah in the direction. My sister tried to see past the people desperately trying to hide to grotesque beast from her. Snow watched Serah leave and walked past me and Sazh to see the damage.

He whistled in surprise. "Wow." Snow said. "Nice job."

"No, it's not!" Amodar snapped. "The formations and everything was unacceptable!"

"Please, calm down, Lieutenant." Bartholomew coaxed.

I know Amodar. He was an easy going man, even for a superior officer in the Guardian Corps. But he did have three petpeeves. Disrespect, quitters, and people who don't know how to battle.

**General POV**

After the whole episode with the behemoth, Terra had almost forgotten that today was the first day of classes. Excited, she went to the schoolhouse, _her_ schoolhouse. She was the only teacher in Oerba right now.

When she entered the classroom, she was surprised to see Hope sitting in one of the desks, scratching things down on a notebook. He looked up upon Terra's arrival. "Hi Terra. I mean Ms. Brandford." The silver haired teenager greeted.

Terra smiled at Hope's acknowlegement, but was surprised by his prescence. Then she remembered. Of course, since she is the only teacher in Oerba, it means that she is going to teach not only kindergarteners. It's a whole new ball game. But it seemed the oldest the students were going to be were Hope's age.

The teacher decided that she will have to rearrange her lesson plans a bit, not too sure exactly what eighth graders were learning at this point. But she trusted herself to work around it. There aren't that many children in Oerba.

A sad fact, actually. All the children are eighter on Cocoon...or...

Terra shook her head. "Hello, Hope." The schoolteacher evaluated her classroom. Everything was still worn down and dusty, even after some fixing NORA had helped do. She figured it would take some time before it actually begins to feel like a classroom. She decided in order to teach the kids easiar is to seperate them by ages.

The back of the room could be for six to eight year olds, the easiast for her since she's always been a kindergarten teacher. The middle of the classroom will be nine to eleven year olds, older but not old enough for the twelve to fourteen year olds, who will sit up front.

That's as much as she can do right now, "Hope, can you help me rearrange the desks before the other kids get here."

The silver haired teen nodded and followed his new teacher's instructions. As soon as they were done, the children were coming in. Terra tried to keep her composure as excitement bubbled up inside her. Out of all the things in life, teaching children were the happiest things she did. And it gave her joy to do this for a living.

Even if much older kids are mixed in with the bunch, she knew that this will still be an enjoyable experience. She picked up the chalk and wrote her name out: _**Ms. Branford's Class.**_

"Hi, Terra!" Dajh chirped as he entered the classroom with his dad. Sazh gave a wave to Terra and Hope.

"Hi, Dajh. Hello Sazh." Terra greeted. "You can pick any seat in the back. That's for six to eight year olds." She explained. Marlene waved from her seat and Dajh ran to the little girl.

Sazh grinned at his son before making his leave. Once all the kids were seated Terra clapped her hands, Hope taking his seat. There were five other middle schoolers. Two seventh graders and three sixth graders. Which made Hope the eldest in the class.

He didn't know whether that was good or bad yet. "Alright class," Terra said in her schoolteacher voice. Remembering she wasn't only teaching kindergartners anymore she eased up on her posture to look more profressional. There were eighteen students total. "I am Ms. Branford, I am going to be your teacher. As you may have noticed, I have split you all up. Younger classmen, Upper classmen, and Middle schoolers."

A seventh grade girl raised her hand, Terra pointed at her to ask her question. "So you are teaching the middle schoolers?"

"I'm teaching all of you," Terra explained, "I know it seems weird but I can make it work."

"But what about the other teacher?" A fifth grader piped up.

"What other teacher?"

Serah suddenly rushed into the classroom, sporting a new outfit that screamed: 'New teacher'. Her long curly pink hair was tied in the back in a loose bun, she wore a white short sleeve button up blouse with the top two buttons undone, a pink ribbon she wore as a loose tie, with pink skirt and heels. No doubt something Yuj whipped up for her, since Serah has become his "Dress up Doll". "Sorry I'm late!" Serah apologized, Snow had come with her to see her off on her first day, helping her out of her sweater.

"Have a great day, babe." Snow told her, kissing her before leaving.

Serah rushed to the front of the classroom and Terra can only stare at her blankly. Serah smiled at the class who were staring at the two with blank expressions. Serah then took the chalk that Terra had only just set down and right next to her name wrote: _**& Ms. Farron's**_. "Hi, I am Ms. Farron. Sorry, I'm new at teaching."

"I didn't know you were a teacher..." Terra asked through clenched teeth, trying to appear pleasant still.

"Well, now I am!" Serah giggled, oblivious to Terra's strange behavior.

The much older woman brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear before addressing her class once more. "While Ser-sorry, Ms. Farron and I talk, I want you all to get up and get to know one another."

Terra walked past Serah to step outside the classroom, not even bothering to wear her jacket despite only wearing a t-shirt. Serah clumsily slipped on her sweater following Terra out bewildered. "What is it?" Serah asked.

"Why are you a teacher?" Terra asked. "Not that I totally mind, but...did somebody ask you."

"No." Serah said with a smile, "I just suddenly decided I want to teach. I asked Bartholomew and he said that you can't teach kids at such large spans in age all at once, so he wants me to teacher the younger kids."

Terra's mind stuttered when she heard that. "What do you mean, younger kids?" She asked.

"Ages six to nine."

**Village Proper**

Amodar slammed his fist against the table, gaining the rest of the Council's attention. "I have a complaint!" He exclaimed.

The Council gathers at the Village Proper every morning to discuss how Oerba is run, property, supplies, boring stuff. And it consisted of Bartholomew as the head, with Amodar, Sazh, and Rygdea following. But mainly the council was run by Bartholomew while Rygdea and Sazh gave their two cents then did what Bartholomew said, while Amodar trained his soldiers (or whoever was left) including the PSICOM troops that have been with them all this time.

"It's about the village's capabilities in battle." Amodar pressed.

"What about them?" Bartholomew asked, while Rygdea and Sazh were silently playing a card game only half listening.

"You saw how easily those behemoths got in. If Yuna hadn't whistled she'd be that thing's breakfast. I suggest we build a perimeter around the village."

Bartholomew blinked at Amodar's suggestion, "That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea." He said thoughtfully.

"I'm for it." Rygdea added in.

"Me too." Sazh said. He grinned as he showed his cards to Rygdea. The Cavalry man swore, handing him a cigarette. The dark skinned man happily accepted it, stuck it in his mouth and lit it with a little bit of fire magic.

"Also, I would like to train the village in a program."

"Tell me more about this program, Lieutenant." Bartholomew persisted as Rygdea and Sazh got started on another game.

"Once a week, maybe, I can get all my men, and train the villagers. Just incase nobody is able to protect them from danger, they can protect themselves. And become better fighters."

Bartholomew nodded his head, he then heard the sound of approaching footsteps as Terra walked toward where the Council were sitting at. "Terra, has school been let out already?"

"Yes, it has." The teacher said. "Bartholomew, you have some explaining to do."

"Ooh..." Rygdea gasped, covering his mouth. Sazh and Amodar snorted in amusement at him, while Bartholomew ignored him.

"What do you mean? Is it the students? I told you the classroom still-"

"No, it's not the school, and the kids are...well at least Serah's students are." She crossed her arms, "Why didn't you alert me that Serah was also going to teach there. Did I have no say in this?"

"Terra, there are eighteen kids, all of different ages. You can't teach my son the difference between an adjective and an adverb while teaching Sazh's son his alphabet." Bartholomew explained.

"He's got a point." Sazh said, still mostly focused on the game.

"But-I'm the kindergarten teacher!" Terra argued. "I got a degree and a liscence to teach and I have been teaching kindergarten for thirteen years. Serah's has only just recently graduated highschool and she only just decided to teach yesterday. Yesterday, Mr. Estheim!"

"My point still stands," Bartholomew stated in a no nonsense tone, "we needed at least two teachers. Serah's teaching younger kids since she's new. I believe you can handle the older children."

"But I can't! The only kid that likes me in my class is your son, and he's the eldest one. The rest eighter ignored me to talk to each other, or talk back to me. And a thirteen year old boy kept 'dropping' his notebook so I'd pick it up for him."

"Why would he do that?" Amodar asked curiously.

"He was trying to look down my shirt." Terra answered unamused.

"Oh." Amodar said and Rygdea laughed openly while Sazh sighed in amusement.

"Apparently he just discovered breasts!" Terra added.

"Okay," Bartholomew said, smiling himself. "So one of them is a bit hormonal and the others are just rude. Besides my son, of course."

"And of course," Terra continued her rant, "Monkey see monkey do. Harry's learning from that kid. Not Hope, the thirteen year old pervert. I wished I remembered his name so I can tell his mother."

"Terra, would you rather have Serah deal with these rambunctious children?" Bartholomew asked.

Terra sighed in annoyance, knowing nothing was going to change bartholomew's set mind. "No sir."

"No." Bartholomew stated officially to Terra, "Yes." he directed that to Amodar, his request still needing an answer.

"Thank you, sir." Amodar said gratefully. The teacher sighed once more, deciding to return home to change.

**Snow and Serah's House**

"How was your day, babe?" Snow asked as he entered the house. He had been helping Maqui with setting up Lenora's Garage. Serah kissed her soon to be husband.

"It was so great. The children were just wonderful." Serah gushed.

"That's good." Snow smiled. "To celebrate our first days at work, I decided, what is a romantic thing we can do together?"

Serah then realized Snow was hiding something behind his back. He revealed a picnic basket. Serah giggled kissing Snow once more. "Oh Snow, that is romantic."

"We can go some place warmer, Morrigan told me of this great place."

"Morigan?" Serah asked worriedly.

Snow smiled reassuringly at the love of his life, "Don't worry, I checked it out, and it's fine. She isn't leading you to a trap."

Serah sighed in relief. "Did you also prepare the basket."

Snow winced and Serah crossed her arms playfully, "Well...maybe I asked Lebreau to whip up something. To be honest I don't even know what's in here."

Serah smiled. "It's okay. It's still a lovely thought though. Let's go."

**Lightning's POV**

Bartholomew had called us all to the Village Proper for a meeting.

"Every week on this day," Bartholomew announced, "we will be doing one hour of vigorous training. Lieutenant Amodar has split you all up, The Swordsmen, the Shooters, and the Miscellaneous."

"Has anyone seen Villiers?" Amodar asked after he listed us all off.

Now that he mentioned it I hadn't seen Snow nor my sister since this morning after the behemoth attack. Only Tifa piped up. "He took Serah out on a date."

I heard Morrigan scoff next to me, as she crossed her arms over her swollen belly and rolled her eyes. I narrowed my eyes at her response. "Well, then," Amodar mumbled to himself, writing something down. "We'll just do without him then."

Cloud, Squall, Terra, Tidus, Vaan, Reks, and I were part of the swordsmen. The first to duel each other were Cloud and Squall.

"Scared, Strife?" Squall asked, placing his gunblade on on top his shoulder.

"You wish." Cloud retorted gripping his broadsword.

Squall was the person to attack, grunting out a deep battle cry. He repeatedly slashed his gunblade, triggering the gun as he did so, but Cloud was quick enough to block each attack like he was able to read Squall's moves. Cloud jumped up attempting to slice close to Squall, but the brunette blocked that attack with his blade.

The fight went on for a while like this, neighter getting hit. At this point...

"I bet on Cloud." Vaan said.

"You're on." Reks smirked at his younger brother.

"Let me in on the action," Tidus added, "My bet is on Squall."

"Squall." Terra said.

"You want in too, Lightning?" Reks asked me.

From what I was seeing so far in the battle, Cloud had strength while Squall had speed. But Cloud is merely blocking attacks while Squall was attacking head on. "Cloud." I betted.

After Squall attempted to slice Cloud's air upward, Cloud quickly threw Squall onto the ground, his boot on his back. Reks, Tidus, and Terra groaned at the outcome, while Vaan and I high fived each other.

**General POV**

Hope continued to sulk as he occupied a seat on the Village proper. Bartholomew had told his son that since he already trains privately with Lightning he didn't need the program. Of course they argued for a bit but Bartholomew one this one. Now that silver haired teen sat by himself watching everybody else get some training done.

Morrigan glared at Vera who was standing off to the side, noticeably checking out the swordsmen guys. The pregnant woman brought her battle staff with her as she approached the blonde, rubbing her baby bump. "What are you doing? Everyone must participate."

Vera chuckled at Morrigan, "Excuse me, I don't fight. Can you really picture me swinging a sword or shooting a gun?"

"If Yuna and Ruby can do it..." Morrigan gestured toward the most unlikely fighters, now armed with guns. Rygdea was showing Ruby how to properly hold a gun steady, of course they were flirting heavily the entire time, but Ruby actually made a target.

Sazh was giving pointers to Yuna on trigger fingers, and judging by the excited smile on her face, it was easy to assume that she was enjoyng using a gun.

"Whatever." The young woman muttered leaving the place to enter her house. Morrigan resumed her light practice on dummies she made.

Old Dalan and Tifa were fighting each other, surprisingly the old man was quite flexible in whatever battle style he does. But of course, Tifa always had the upper hand in fights and floored Dalan in a clean sweep. The elder man laughed impressed.

"You really are a gifted martial artist." He praised, bowing after he jumped back to his feet.

Tifa looked around, "I could really test my strength if Snow was here. I'm sure I can take him. It's just us two in the miscellaneous."

"Why don't you ask Amodar if you can duel somebody who isn't in miscellaneous since you are limited to just me. I'm sure some of his soldiers including your own husband is good in hand to hand combat."

Tifa glanced over where Cloud was...and anger flared in her when she saw that he wasn't his usual reserved and antisocial self when he was with the swordsmen. Including the Lightning chick.

The quiet pink haired soldier, who almost resembled Cloud, was chuckling at something he said as she approached him, holding out a hand to help him up. She obviously had beat him in a duel, also judging by how Terra cheered and the rest of the men groaned.

It wasn't so much their interaction that bothered her but after Cloud was back on his feet, there was a weird exchange between them. They didn't say anything to each other, but the way they were looking at each other settled uneasily in Tifa's stomach.

Did Lightning not know that Cloud was married, or did she just not care? Tifa crossed her arms approaching Amodar who was monitoring everyone. "Is something the matter, Mrs. Strife?" Amodar asked politely.

"Yes-I mean no. Well...Dalan and I are the only people in the miscellaneous category. And I kinda wanted to...mix it up a bit."

Amodar nodded. "You want me to get Hope? I'll handle Bartholomew's mouth later-"

"No, I don't want to fight a child." Tifa quickly said. "I was hoping to fight one of your soldiers, besides my husband because he's awful at hand to hand drills."

Amodar chuckled, "Yeah...I'm still wondering what exactly made me want to make him a Sergeant..." His eyes then lit up as an idea hit him, "You know what, why not you duel Farron? I believe she's at the same wavelength as you, that might be something everyone wants to see."

Amodar walked past Tifa, "I bet..." Tifa said to herself, following Amodar.

**Lightning's POV**

"Hey Farron!" I heard Amodar call for me over the gunshots. "I want you to duel Tifa in hand to hand combat."

Everyone literally stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I mentally shuddered at the attention. Tifa and I took the center.

The martial artist got into her battle pose and I got into the standard hand to hand stance.

"My bets on Farron." I heard Gadot tell his gang.

"I'm goin' for Tifa." Reks added.

I exhaled about to make a move, then faster then I thought was possible Tifa zoomed towards me. I grabbed her right hand that tried to get me in the face and moved it upward, forgetting that Tifa was really aiming me with her left fist, hitting my chest.

She punched me twice in the face throwing me back. When she attempted a kick, I grabbed her leg, and she pulled it back quick, giving me enough time to punch her face, throwing her head back. She rubbed her nose, that surprisingly wasn't bleeding.

When I made for another punch, she ducked and swept from under my feet with her leg, I did a somersault, but as soon as I got back on my feet she was already punching me and kicked me mid cartwheel. My face was beginning to hurt from all her attacks, and when she made another move for my face I grabbed her fist and pushed her back.

I did a spin kick to the face, almost like a human windmill. I made to punch her in the face and she ducked, she quickly grabbed me by the front of my turtleneck and threw me to the ground. When she was about to run past me, I grabbed her leg and dragged her down with me. I grabbed the front of her crop top, straddling her waist about to finally take a swing at her but she pushed me off.

I fell on my back and this time she was straddling my waist, I rolled her over and punched her in the face, her grunting in pain. I backed up so I can get back to a clean fight. She charged at me, hooking me around my neck with her arm and dragged me across the snow. I jumped back to my feet, punching her in the stomach.

I circled her and and elbowed her in the back then swept her aside. I moved in to make a jump at her, but her legs quickly wrapped around my neck and she spun around now on my back, cutting off any air from getting into my lungs. "Say you give!" Tifa commanded.

I tried pushing her legs off but she only squeezed them tighter. "Fine!" I squeezed out, knowing I had already lost. Tifa hopped off my back and I fell on my knees, struggling for breath.

**General POV**

Snow and Serah continued their romantic picnic, unaware of the program that was happening in Oerba. In fact, they didn't care what was going on there, as long as it was just them two, they can be happy.

Serah continued to tease Snow by nibbling his ear, know how much he liked it. He grunted. "Serah," he complained, "I'm trying to eat."

Serah giggled at her soon to be husband. "Oh please, you know you'd rather be kissing me then eating a sandwich Lebreau made."

Snow stopped chewing setting down his food. "You're right," he said leaning in for another kiss. Serah put a hand to his chest.

"Ah! Chew and swallow first." She lectured.

Snow chuckled, swallowing his monster sized bite in one big gulp. He burped soon after. "Excuse me."

"Gross." Serah giggled pushing him away.

"I thought you wanted me to kiss you?" Snow teased trying to kiss Serah as she struggled to push him off.

"No!" She half screamed half laughed. Snow managed to capture her lips with his, and Serah stopped struggling now lovingly kissing him back. Serah laid her back against the picnic blanket.

**Lightning's POV**

"Just hold still!" Hope whined as I kept flinching away from the cotton swab Yuna handed him.

When Yuna tried working on me I was adamant on not letting her see my face. Surprisingly she decided to call Hope in, expecting the job to be easiar.

That just made it more embarrassing. I lost to Tifa. Not just lost but I got beat up by her, I was humiliated by her. What on Gran Pulse happened?

"Light, I need to see your face." Hope pleaded when I still kept my face from being seen. Suddenly he grabbed eighter side of my face and forced me to look at him. He cringed.

"It's that bad!?" I exclaimed.

Hope quickly recovered like I hadn't seen his actual reaction. "It's not...that bad...?"

Yuna took a glance and gasped, hand on over her heart. "Oh dear."

I looked around for some sort of mirror to see the damage and I found one sitting on Yuna's desk. I jumped up and grabbed it and...I couldn't speak.

I had a black eye, the reason why I can only see out of one, my nose and right cheek were bruised, explaining why I sounded nasally and I struggled to speak, and a cut on the bottom of my lip.

That was only my face. I was pretty sure I had even more bruises all over my body. This was completely embarrassing! "How long is this going to last?" I asked. "At least on my face."

"Well, with Hope constantly healing you..." Yuna gestured to the teenager, face scrunched up in concentration as he flowed healing magic my way, "the bruises and cuts should be gone in two weeks."

"Two weeks! umf!" My face felt like it was tearing again from the sudden yell.

"As for your black eye, that should be gone in a matter of days." Yuna assured me.

I still will look like a mess for another two weeks. Hope, worried for my wellbeing, walked me home. I couldn't exactly shoo him away since we live in the same house. Sazh was waiting for us outside. When he saw my face he made a pained hissing noise. "Ooh, girl, you look awful!"

I narrowed my eye at him, "Thanks Sazh." I said. Snow and Serah were finally coming back from their picnic. Not ready to face Serah yet I grabbed Hope's hand and ran the rest of the way home.

**General POV**

"Hey, Trenchcoat, Mrs. Trenchcoat." Sazh greeted.

Serah giggled leaning into her future husband.

"Was that Sis I saw just now with Hope?" Snow asked.

Sazh figured that they were going to see her anyway, and instead of freaking when they saw her battered up face, he just came out and told her the whole story. Serah gasped while Snow look shocked. "Wow." Snow said after Sazh got done, "Lightning lost? To Tifa?"

"Is she alright?" Serah asked.

"She's fine." Sazh reassured, "kind of embarassed you know. The only other woman that beat her in a fight was Fang. And it was...eheh, nothing like that display."

**Lightning's POV**

When Hope and I got home Bartholomew was speaking to Cloud. Surprisingly it was Cloud who stood up to evaluate the damage. I figured he must have felt somehow guilty since it was his wife that did it. "You okay?" He asked me.

I hummed in response not really wanting to speak since it hurt everywhere. I hated this. I hated how weak I was right now. Hopefully Hope can work twice as hard on the magic and get me better sooner. Hope was still holding my hand, and I knew he was still sending me the healing magic.

"It's no big deal," I tried to reassure, "it was just a duel. It just means I need more practice in hand to hand drills. I need to speak to the Lieutenant on private lessons."

Bartholomew seemed to accept that. I felt Viride jump on my pant leg.

"She's worried about you," Hope told me.

"I'm fine...dog." I said, unsure how to speak to an animal. The dog dropped back down to all fours, staring up at me and wagging her tail.

"Sometimes Tifa can get a bit competitive." Cloud told me, "Girl power and mumbo jumbo."

I rose my eyebrow at his statement.

"Maybe, Ms. Farron should get some sleep now." Bartholomew dismissed. "Hope."

Hope looked up at me, eerily resembling his puppy. "I'm fine Hope. You can continue healing me tommorrow."

The silver haired teen unwillingly let go of my hand and followed his dad into their room. I entered the room I shared with Cloud. "I spoke to her, about what happened." The blonde told me.

I sat down on my bed, staring up at him.

He circled my bed to get to his own and sat down. "She thinks I'm having an affair with you." He said.

"What?" I loudly whispered.

"Well, not right now. But she thinks we might."

"Why would she think that?" I asked. "I mean, we're not interested in each other that way."

"Of course not!" Cloud added. "But, that's what she thinks."

"Just because we live together. The only reason we are living together is because she kicked you out."

"Exactly." Cloud said, laying down on his bed, hands behind his head. "And because we worked in the Guardian Corps together and we act alike."

"But we barely saw each other back on Cocoon." I also added. Tifa getting jealous was no reason to publicaly humiliate me. I don't know what her and Cloud's deal is, but I refuse to get involved. I choose what I do. I already have so much on my plate right now, I cannot get involved in some stupid love triangle. "I'm getting mad. I'm gonna sleep this off."

Cloud snorted in amusement, "Okay. Good night."

"Night."

**General POV**

**Eden**

Primarch Vayne Carudas Solidor sighed as he sat back down on his Primarch Throne. Chaos has finally left Eden, and his people were safe, for now. His trusted right hand man entered Edenhall, "Your Emminence." He kneeled.

"What is it Ser Joxe?" He asked like he was a good friend.

"We have located the Pulsian survivors." He answered. He pulled up a virtual 3D map of Gran Pulse. Vayne jumped off his throne, "That is Gran Pulse?"

"Only a small portion of it, Your Emminence. Here," red dots appeared on the virtual map, "they have been living in a village called 'Orba Village'."

"I think it says _Oerba _Village." Vayne corrected taking the virtual 3D map from him, "Yes, good work. Cosmos was tight lipped about their whereabouts, saying that they are trying to find their own way. I am only doing them a favor. We leave now."

"What?" Joxe exclaimed following his Primarch down the hall, "You want to go? To Pulse."

"If my people are starting a life down there it can't be that bad."

"But, Your Emminence, they could be corrupted!"

"We could be corrupted, Ser Joxe. Remember Chaos? He might return."

The two entered the Gran Foyer where a young man about sixteen resembling the Primach greatly was speaking to some of the Primarch's knights. "Larsa." Vayne approached the young man.

"Yes?" The young man asked, brushing a strand behind his ear.

"We are leaving for Pulse tonight. You are in charge until I get back. You think you can handle the job."

"Of course, brother." Larsa said respectfully, bowing slightly. Vayne put a strong hand on the young man's shoulder, squeezing it in reassurance.

"I know you can, Larsa." The Primarch smiled at his younger brother then mussed his hair, something he knew bothered Larsa.

The younger Solidor scrunched up his nose in annoyance and brushed out his hair back into it's neat combed back do.

**AN: The next three chapters will be the last chapters of the Oerba Village arc. That means Chapter 14 will be the start of the L'Cie's adventures.**

**Anyways, I'm considering making this into a series instead of just one twenty six chapter story. Because I realize I won't have enough time to really cover all the stories I began, and I kinda didn't want it all to be jumbled up in one story. Also there are other things I want to happen so I am considering writing a much longer sequel that will be more of an ongoing story.**


	11. The Primarch and Chocobo Hunting

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: Expect more frequent updates! Summer vacation has arrived which means I have more time to write!**

**Lightning's POV**

I woke up to the sound of a loud airship landing in Oerba. It seemed I was never going to just naturally wake up. I opened my eyes and glanced over. Cloud was already awake too, giving me the same look. We tugged on our clothes so we can investigate the commotion outside.

We all gathered around a new airship, a dark silver and spotlesslessly clean one. The doors opened up and men clad in heavy dark silver almost medieval armor exited the airship in a formation.

"Aren't they the ones from Nautilus?" Hope asked Sazh, who I noticed had a hand in his gun.

This was not a good sign. Who were these men? I kept my hand on the hilt of my gunblade, but the men in armor didn't look like they were going to attack. They made two seperate lines on eighter side of the entrance, faced each other, and stood straight.

Then a man with shoulder length black hair wearing dark green pullover pants, white gloves, a sleeveless armor with white and gold armlets with wings on the shoulders and gold knee pads. He also wore a dark blue, crimson, and white cloak with a gold belt.

"All hail, Primarch Vayne Carudas Solidor." A older man scurried in front of him. He and the men in armor kneeled.

"You are the new Primarch?" Bartholomew asked.

Vayne smiled, flipping his long hair. "Yes. Are you the leader of these people?"

"Yes, I am." Bartholomew confirmed, taking a cautious step forward. "What brings you here?"

The Primarch looked around, evaluating our living conditions and sighed, "Your new home is appaling. Why are you so insistent on staying here?" he asked.

Serah suddenly spoke up, "You mean we can leave?" She asked.

A weird expression landed on Vayne's face as he stared at Serah. He didn't say anything, infact his smile widened and his eyes got brighter. "Yes. I am sure Cosmos has given you permission to live on Cocoon. The Chaos is gone now, it is safe again."

"We can't go back there." I told him.

"But it is your home." He tried to persuade.

"Was our home." Cloud added, backing me up, "Now Oerba is our home. Our apologies Primarch but you have wasted your time coming all the way out here."

The older man who had introduced Vayne growled, "How dare you address His Emminence that way!"

"Ser Joxe." Vayne replied calmly. "Please," he tried again, "there is no need to answer right away. Please think it over. If you wish, my men and I can stay the entire day and assure you we mean no harm. We will tell you all about how Cocoon is doing as of now. If you all have a special request, I will be sure it comes true."

"Can you make me an actress?" Ruby asked.

Vayne smiled once more, a mask. "Of course, m'lady."

As expected Ruby squealed in delight, "I'm gonna be a star! I'm gonna pack!"

Rygdea stared after his lover astonished and followed her as she dragged her little boy to get ready for another move.

**General POV**

"I want to go." Serah told Snow after Vayne left with Bartholomew for a tour of the Village.

"Why?" Snow asked.

"Because we don't have anything here." The pink haired girl began walking towards her and Snow's house.

"What about your teaching job?"

"I can go back to school and get a proper job. Or..." She spun on her heel, a smile on her face, "we can finally get married and start a family in Bodhum."

Snow looked up at the quaint village that is still in the progress of being rebuilt. "Didn't you want to start a life here?"

Serah scrunched up her nose. "It's too cold here, not enough people, the classroom...there's only one classroom. One restaraunt/bar, one clothing store...My dream was always me, my husband," she embraced Snow when she said that, "and our children, playing together on the beach. You racing them on the boardwalk. The fireworks festival...We will watch the fireworks and tell the story of how you proposed to me."

Snow could picture everything Serah just said...and he was beginning to have a change of heart. Living in Bodhum sounded alot better then in a village, where behemoths and who knows what else can come in. But one person came into mine. "What about Sis?"

"She can come too!" Serah exclaimed, pulling away from Snow to look at his face, "Of course she'll come. She's my sister! Hold on, let me go find her and tell her."

**Lightning's POV**

"You think Tifa might go?" Cloud asked Sazh, Hope, and I.

"She might..." I replied, picturing Tifa making Marlene pack and hightailing out of the village. "What about you? If she moves will you follow?"

Cloud shrugged, eyes on the ground. "I don't have a place in Cocoon anymore. Hell, I don't have a place here."

Sazh crossed his arms, "I think Dajh and I are gonna stay here. I promised him that I was gonna run a chocobo corral."

Hope laughed. "I already know my dad doesn't want to go back...unless..." his eyes downcasted, "The new Primarch offers him a job. I don't know if my dad will accept it or not."

"What about you, Soldiergirl?" Sazh asked me. "You thinkin' about leaving?"

"No." I said quickly. "My life ended on Cocoon as soon as I quit my job as a Guardian Corps soldier and got on that Purge train. There's no GC anymore. At least not that I'm aware. Even if there were I doubt I'll be re-enlisted." I explained.

It was quiet for a long moment. "What about Serah?" Cloud asked. "If Serah went, will you go with her?"

I didn't have an answer. Why would Serah want to move? She's a school teacher, we're about to plan the wedding. She seemed happy enough here. Of course there was that behemoth that almost attacked Yuna, but we can handle it.

With the training program and the Lieutenant creating a perimeter as we speak, we can lead a cozy home here.

Then again, there's the L'Cie thing. What will we do?

"Chocobo!" I heard Dajh cry.

Sazh rushed toward where his son was yelling and Hope and I followed him. Dajh was standing in front of Amodar, who was on one knee trying to speak to Dajh. "Where'd you see it, boy?" He asked him, "Where'd you see the chocobo?"

Chocolina began chirping making exaggerated wing moves that I couldn't quite understand. "I saw it out side my window!" Dajh explained excitedly, bouncing up and down, "It was huge! Like _this_ big!" He stretched his arms out wide in front of him and Chocolina mimicked his movements, chirping. "And it made this 'choco, choco, choco' noise. I ran outside to find him and he was gone!"

"Dajh, I don't think a chocobo could have gotten into the village without us noticing." Amodar explain, "I have a perimeter."

"I did see it!" Dajh cried and Sazh picked his six year old up, trying to calm him down.

"Maybe he did see it." Hope said. "You really think he'd make this up?"

Amodar laughed hudgely, something I've seen too many times before. He then clapped Hope heavily on the back, almost knocking him over, "Son, I am a Guardian Corps soldier. I think I know what I'm talking about."

But then I saw a chocobo walk out from behind Tifa's house, and stare at us.

"Chocobo?" Sazh, Hope, and I said at the same time.

"It's a chocobo!" Dajh exclaimed jumping out of his dad's arms.

"Why is my perimter not working?" Amodar cried out frustrated.

The chocobo let out a 'wark' and galloped away. "Wait!" Dajh cried, "Chocobo! He's getting away!"

Chocolina began yelling at the chocobo but it was already leaving. Then Sazh starting running after it. Hope and I followed after him. "Stay close to me, kids!" Sazh called back to us. "We'll get that chocobo!"

"I can't believe there are chocobos here!" Hope said excitedly, laughing.

We then came across a broken bridge, and the chocobo flew across into the wild. "Wait," I stopped, "we've never been to this part of Gran Pulse. Who knows what or who could be lurking within that wilds."

Sazh looked back at me, his face strained in desperation. "But we can't stop now, my son really wants that chocobo! It's all he ever asks for."

"He already has Chocoli-"

"Please, Soldiergirl, you can go back if you want to. But I'm gettin' my boy a chocobo." Before I could make a move Sazh was already jumping over the bridge, barely making it. He climbed back up and waited for us expectantly, "Well, made a decision yet?"

"We should go, before he hurts himself." Hope told me. Once again, I had lost control as group leader and Hope leaped across the bridge, landing smoothly on the otherside.

I looked down, a rapid river below me, can't guarentee to catch my fall. I blew out an exasperated breath before I leaped over.

**General POV**

"Bartholomew," Serah looked everywhere for the self appointed Council leader, Snow in tow. Bartholomew was conversing with the Primarch and when Serah approached, she had both their undivided attention. "Have you seen my sister?"

"No, as a matter of fact," Bartholomew squinted his eyes looking for a familiar head of silver. "I haven't seen Hope eighter. He was with Lightning as well."

Dajh came running ahead of Amodar, "My dad's with them. They are catching me a chocobo."

"Chocobo hunting?" Serah exclaimed, and Snow rose his eyebrows, disappearing into his bandana. "Their chocobo hunting? How long are they going to be gone?"

Dajh shrugged, going back home to wait patiently for his dad. Bartholomew pinched thhe bridge of his nose, pushing up his glasses as he did so. "Why don't we just continue our tour."

Bartholomew led the Primarch toward Yuna's clinic, reassuring him that they have plenty of medical supplies in stock. Serah frowned as she watched her ticket back home walk off. "Hey, babe, we can just wait a little longer can't we?" Snow asked.

"No!" Serah cried, "we can't! The Primarch is leaving soon. How long of a tour are they going to take! look, Bartholomew's skipping over places! He's trying to hurry him along so he can leave because he doesn't want him here and the only people he'll take is Ruby, Harry, and Vera!"

"Vera's going too?" Snow asked.

"Yes, she said she has nothing better to do here. Like me. We can do better then this, Snow. We can find you work I'm sure of it."

Snow sighed. It wasn't like he ever finished highschool, he dropped out senior year. He really didn't have a future alone. That's why he had NORA and even Lightning. "What about, NORA." Snow tried to persuade his wife to stay. "I work in Lenora's Garage."

"I think it will mean alot to Maqui if you started another Lenora's Garage in Bodhum." Serah answered.

"What about Sis? If she comes with us, what will she do?"

"She'll probably work in the army. Ooh!" She squealed, "or can get a real job! She can work for you! It'll be perfect!"

Snow watched as Serah kept a closer tab on the Primarch. He didn't know why he was so concerned about Lightning. Maybe because of the L'Cie thing. If their brands do come back, she was going to go complete the Focus. She can't do that if her companions lived on an entirely different planet. They would have to go without her.

But is that what he wanted? He already accepted giving up fighting...but did he really want to be apart from Gadot, Lebreau, Maqui, Yuj, Lightning, and Sazh and Hope? They were a part of his family. He was going to miss them.

Would Serah leave without Lightning?

Snow decided to go back to Lenora's Garage, spend some time with Gadot and Maqui. If they were really leaving, this may be their last chance as a gang. He entered the maroon store, where Gadot was fixing up some guns while Maqui was sketching something on a sheet of paper. When they saw Snow come in, Maqui pushed his goggles back on top of his head while Gadot stopped what he was doing.

"Hey Boss." Gadot greeted.

"You okay, Snow?" Maqui asked, the two able to read their leader like a book after all the time they spent together.

**Lightning's POV**

"It's over there!" Sazh pointed toward the left path.

"Are you sure?" I asked, having been set on going straight. Whenever you are in unfamiliar territory, always go straight. When you can no longer turn straight, turn right if it's availiable for you. Dead end, follow the wall right.

"Yeah, I saw a yellow feather butt!" He confirmed, already heading in the direction. I followed the old pilot down the tangled and dangerous woods. How the hell did chocobos frolick here?

But it turned out, Sazh made an idiotic move and the chocobo _was_ going straight ahead. "Dammit, Sazh, we're losing him!" I yelled, crossing over the shrubbery and bushes, once again grateful for the pants since I would have gotten cut up from all the sharp plants. But even cutting corners, the chocobo had disappeared into the woods. "For some scrawny legs it sure can run!" I muttered.

I picked up the pace, hoping to catch the chocobo. We have been running for a while now, and I'll be damned if we did all that and came back empty handed. And it didn't seem like Sazh was giving up eighter. After another half mile, the chocobo was still out of sight. I can hear Sazh slowing down his stride, and he was panting heavily, hands on his knees.

"Oh, goodness. I'm too old for this." Sazh complained.

"Should have thought of that before you decided to be the chocobo hunter, old man." I said.

"Oh, we're gonna catch that chocobo." the darkskinned man said, hand on his back and half running. "Come on, I'm sure he's here somehwere."

"You have got to be kidding me." I whined.

**General POV**

"So I make all my own clothing." Yuj explained to the Primarch.

"And where do you get the supplies to do that?" he asked.

"All my life I've kept all my old clothes and materials because, you never know when you'll need them." Yuj opened up the backroom, it was filled with clothes and boxes. "Yup, I am the fashion police."

"Interesting." Vayne said distractedly, stepping back when he noticed Yuj practically come on to him.

Serah entered Yuj's Outfitters, waving at Bartholomew to come to her. The Council leader looked back at the Primarch and Yuj then approached Serah. "Is something the matter, miss?"

"Yes." Serah confirmed, "I want to go back to Cocoon. And my sister is not back yet from her...chocobo hunt," she shook her head at the idea of Lightning being a chocogirl. "Could you stall him for a few more hours, just until Claire gets back?"

"Serah," Bartholomew kept his voice low so the Primarch couldn't hear, "he has to leave soon. He's the Primarch, I can't stall him. Who's going to run Cocoon?"

"Just for a few hours. My sister should be back any moment." Serah begged.

"I highly doubt that," Bartholomew muttered.

Serah batted her eyes and pouted her lips and fingered the hem of her skirt, trying to pull off cute and sympathetic. She always did it to get her way. It worked on Snow, it worked on his friends, it even works on her older sister. So it had to work on Bartholomew too.

Bartholomew bit his lip, debating whether to grant Serah's wishes or just do his job normally. He would have been lying if he said he didn't develop a soft spot for the girl. The way Serah's eyes glistened with tears melt Bartholomew's heart a bit, something that nobody thought was possible.

He sighed, "Your Emminence." He called out to the Primarch who was politely rejecting Yuj's subtle advances, "would you like to attend one of our people's performances, the one that is going with you, Ruby."

Vayne however wasn't looking at Bartholomew, but at Serah, who was staring back intently. At that moment, the Primarch decided that Serah was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, and hoped to spend some time with her. "Will you be attending as well, m'lady?"

Serah blinked up at the primarch, blushing at how he addressed her as 'his lady'. "Well..." She trailed off.

Vayne held out a hand to her and Serah took it, hoping this will delay his stay a little longer until her sister got here. "Mr. Estheim, lead us to the performance."

Bartholomew stared wide eyed, mouth slightly agape at the display. And something in his gut twisted at the sight. He didn't know why the Primarch's interest in Serah made him uneasy, but...he shook his head, trying to recompose himself. "Of course, Your Emminence." He said, swiftly exiting the store.

Yuj watched the trio leave and sighed. "I'm gonna go see Maqui." He always went to see his bestfriend whenever he felt low. He always cheered him up.

But when he entered Lenora's Garage, he found Gadot and Maqui in a deep conversation with Snow. "What's going on?" Yuj asked.

"Serah wants to move to Cocoon, and Snow doesn't." Gadot explained.

"Why does she want to move to Cocoon?" Yuj asked.

"She's not happy here." Snow said, his chin in his hands as he sulked. "I thought she was. She became a teacher, made friends...but she still rather be in Bodhum."

"And you don't want to go." Yuj restated.

"Well," Snow tried to explain, "you guys are here. And Lebreau. And Sazh, Hope...Lightning."

"Is Lightning not coming with you?" Maqui asked.

"I don't know." The large man responded. "We haven't asked her yet, but I have a feeling she doesn't want to leave eighter. But if we tell Serah we don't want to move she'll get mad and stop talking to us again. What if she calls off the marriage?"

"This is why I don't like women." Yuj stated.

"No, I'm pretty sure there's more reasons why you don't like women." Gadot told the blue haired man.

At that Yuj and Maqui started laughing and Gadot and Snow chimed in. He'd miss this, Snow decided. Being able to laugh with his friends, to fight for what he believes in, living in a village that reminded him of Fang and Vanille.

But he also loved Serah. He can't see himself with anyone else. Serah made him good, and she never made him feel like an idiot when everybody else did. She was the only woman who actually showed affection towards him, instead of keeping him away at arms length.

Serah was his love. So what does he do?

**Lightning's POV**

"It went this way!" Sazh pointed to the left once more, his voice very high from wheezing.

"No," I turned him down, "I'm taking the lead, Chocoboy Sazh. Everytime you make a turn we've ended up at dead ends, alcoves, and we almost ran off a cliff. I'm taking point."

"Is there any point now?" Hope asked, hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "We haven't seen that chocobo for an hour. It's probably long gone by then."

"I'm sure we'll find him." Sazh replied, refusing to give up on this search.

Over a stupid chocobo no less!

"Hey, look!" Hope exclaimed pointing toward a feather trail, left by our friend, the chocobo. "if we follow the feathers it would lead us to him."

"Nice job, Hope." I praised, patting him on the head. He squirmed and giggled.

I heard Sazh mutter incoherently under his breath as he started following the trail.

**General POV**

Tidus approached the perimiter, carrying a tray of hot cocoa made by Tifa. Amodar were busting Cloud and Squall on upgrading the perimeter.

"A chocobo got through?" Tidus asked as Amodar took the mug.

He took a large gulp, "yup, and if he got through, anything can. Like that behemoth the other day."

Tidus shuddered at the memory, he was so close to losing his wife. "Well, do you need any help?"

Amodar smiled mischievously and the blonde instantly regretted the decision. "Sure..." he took the tray from Tidus. "Alrighty, boys, you do good work."

Cloud and Squall stood back up.

"Tidy."

"It's Tidus."

"Alrighty, Tidus." Amodar laughed. "I want you to try and walk out of the village."

The blonde glanced at Cloud and Squall. The blonde swordsman's face was stoic and blank while the brunette actually looked a bit concerned for Tidus. The star player gulped approaching the wire. But when he lifted one leg up to walk over the perimeter, a current of electricity zapped Tidus back onto the crystal snow. His eyes wide and hair stood up straight.

"It worked!" Amodar exclaimed excitedly.

Cloud and Squall stared at their Lieutenant like he had just lost his mind, as Tidus began to twitch on the ground.

Meanwhile, at Ruby's theatre house: "Oh Michael!" Ruby squealed, talking to an imaginary person, facing directly to the right. She was dressed in a green ball gown and her long brown hair was in a side braid, her face caked with white and green makeup. "I just love Gran Pulse! It's nothin' like my home back in Cocoon!"

Ruby then turned so she was directly facing the left, and the right side of her resembled a man. She had a blue suit on, the right side of her brown hair was pinned up and hidden underneath half of a black top hat, she wore a spectacle, and drew a swirly half stache. "I knew you would, Rachel." Her voice lowered octaves imitating a man's. "And there is so much more I can show you."

Music began playing and Ruby started singing.

Rygdea watched, but wasn't as enthused, his mind heavy at the thought of her leaving him here. Vayne, leaning on his hand, looked bored out of his mind. Serah looked confused on what exactly Ruby's one woman show was about and Bartholomew was too distracted by Vayne's hand on Serah's thigh.

The Council leader was surprised that Serah hadn't noticed. And if she did, she didn't seem to mind the way he was slowly rubbing and squeezing it. What would Snow say about this, was what Bartholomew thought. When the song was over Ruby faced the audience and bowed. Rygdea and Harry applauded as well as Serah and Vayne.

Bartholomew clapped slowly, not really understanding Ruby's story.

Vera was watching the trio instead of the play, more particularly on the new Primarch. He looked young enough, probably in his early thirties, and he was definitely very handsome.

Also very powerful. If a woman were to marry him, they would be...well, what exactly do they call the wife of a Primarch. All Vera knew is that she would be rich. She flipped her blonde hair, lowered the front of her dress so a bit of cleavage showed and made her move. "Your Emminence." She bowed. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

Vayne looked up at the beautiful woman, "The pleasure is mine. May I have your name?"

"Vera." She said.

"Beautiful. Will you be coming back to Cocoon."

"Yes, I'm planning on it." Vera noticed Serah look up at her, her eyes still narrowed in envy.

"What do you plan to do? Where will you live?" Vayne asked, truly curious.

"I was hoping to move to Eden." The blonde responded, leaning over the primarch, "a change of scenery. I haven't decided what to do yet."

The Primarch nodded. His attention back on Serah, "Do you have a place to eat?"

Serah was oblivious to Vayne's advances, at least that was what Bartholomew deduced, but the pink haired girl was just happy that she was able to keep Vayne longer. But she knew this wouldn't last long. Where was Claire? She thought. "We can go to Tifa and Lebreau's place."

Vera pouted, right away noticing Vayne's interest in Serah.

Rygdea was finally confronting Ruby about her decision to move. "I can't go with you, doll."

"Why not?" She asked, looking shocked.

Rygdea stared directly at Ruby's left side, not being able to take her seriously with half of her dressed as a man. "I have responsibilities here."

Ruby pouted, "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No, no don't do that. I want you to pursue your career. Don't worry, Ruby, I'll come visit you." Rygdea embraced his lover.

"Jude..." She whispered Rygdea's first name.

For a split second, Captain Jude Rygdea of the Calvary felt the urge to cry. But as long as his lover achieves her dream of being an actress, then he was going to support her all the way.

Snow noticed Sazh's son Dajh waiting patiently outside his house, Chocolina in his palms. He decided since his wife was busy to keep the six year old company. "Your old man ain't back yet?"

Dajh shook his head, "I can't wait til he does though. He's bringin' me a chocobo."

"Yeah..." Snow said, staring out. To be honest Snow wished he was with them right now. Looking for chocobos sounded like fun.

**Lightning's POV**

Looking for chocobos had to be the most stupidest and tedious things we ever done. We've been hunting for a chocobo that has long escaped us almost all day.

"Here's some gyshal greens." Hope said holding them up, "I remember Fang having some with her. That's how we caught that whole group of chocobos."

"Waaark..." We heard a noise coming from the woods.

"Sounds like it's working already." I said, scoping behind the trees for a certain big yellow bird.

Sazh took the gyshal greens from Hope approaching the ominous shubbery. "Step aside, kid, let the expert work."

"The last time someone stated they were an 'expert'," Hope put quotations around the word expert, "We discovered the chocobo."

"Amodar's a soldier. Not a construction worker." Sazh said. "I know chocobos."

"Your _son_ knows chocobos." I pointed out. "You should stick to airships."

"Soldiergirl, please." the dark skinned man ignored us, starting to call out to the birds, "Here choco, choco, choco..."

"Is that your chocobo call?" Hope asked laughing.

"Sh!" Sazh hushed. Then he started singing, "Choco, choco, choco, cho. co. bo..."

A giant yellow eye opened within the woods. Definitely not a chocobo. "Sazh..." I whispered to him, pulling Hope behind me protectively.

He continued to cluck like a chocobo, shaking his 'tail feather' as he did so. It would have been really funny if Sazh wasn't about to loose that 'tail feather'. The verdelet flew out and Hope threw his boomerang, slicing the creature in half, the blood showering Sazh.

"The f-" Sazh almost swore. Hope caught the boomerang.

"That wasn't a chocobo." He stated walking away.

"Wait a minute..." Sazh looked around, "They **ate** the greens! Son of a b-"

**General POV**

"Aren't you excited Chocolina?" Dajh cooed to his chocobo, still in the same spot. Snow had offered to give him a piggy back ride, something Dajh always enjoyed, but the six year old was insistent on waiting for Sazh and his new chocobo friend. So Snow decided to go look for his wife since he had nothing better to do.

Ainu and Harry were saying their goodbyes, after Ruby confirmed they were leaving with Vayne to live in Eden. "How long has Dajh been sitting there?" Harry asked quietly to Ainu.

"All day." They watched Dajh continue to chat with his little chocobo, laughing like she said a funny joke.

"I'm gettin' worried." Harry said, approaching Dajh. "Hey."

Dajh looked up, "Hi, Harry. I heard you were leaving."

"Yeah..." he glanced at Ainu who remained silent. "Dajh, do you want to play with us before I go?"

Dajh's face saddened, glancing where his dad left from.

"If you want we can play here, in case your dad comes home. Then you can say hi to him."

Dajh mulled the idea over for a few moments before smiling at the ten year old. "Chocolina, I'm gonna go play with Ainu and Harry."

The chocobo let out a happy noise, flying off. Harry watched the chocobo fly away, "I take it she's fine with it."

Vayne, Serah, and Bartholomew were eating at Lebreau and Tifa's place, while the rest of NORA (minus Snow and Yuj) were also there.

"And then I told my younger brother," Vayne was in the middle of telling Serah a funny story, " 'look before you swing'."

Serah giggled clapping her hands while Bartholomew just watched them unamused, taking another gulp of alcohol Tifa had snuck in his drink for him. Maqui and Gadot also watched Vayne flirting with distaste. "If the Boss sees what this so called Primarch is doing he'd kick his ass." Gadot commented.

"I doubt it," Lebreau explained approaching them, "he's not the jealous type, remember?"

Gadot then smirked pointing at a moping Maqui. Most of NORA, besides Snow knew that Maqui has a bit of a crush on Serah. Though he claims he's gotten over it, he does express hints that it's just something he tells himself over and over again so he doesn't ruin his friendship with Snow.

Serah was also oblivious to Maqui's crush, just like how she was not acknowleging Vayne's interest and Bartholomew's over observant eye. Everyone liked Serah. What wasn't there to like?

She was pretty, she was smart, and when she smiled it lit up the room. Snow was lucky to be engaged to someone like her.

Speaking of Snow, the large man finally entered the restaraunt/bar, having been searching for his future wife. "Babe." Snow greeted with a smile giving her a kiss.

"Snow." Serah said back.

Vayne rose an eyebrow, and Lebreau kicked back and watch everything unfold. "Is he your boyfriend?" he asked.

"Her fiance'," Snow informed, unaware of Vayne's interest in Serah. "We're getting married."

"Hopefully in Bodhum." Serah told Snow. She missed Snow wince.

Vayne finished his drink then cleared his throat. "Well, I should be going now."

Serah's eyes widened. "What! Already?" She exclaimed.

"Yes." Vayne confirmed stoicly, "There's work to be done. And my little brother can't run a planet by himself. Please alert Ms. Ruby and Ms. Vera." He swiftly left, his cloak billowing behind him.

Serah was in a panic. Her sister hasn't arrived yet, and her ride was leaving. She prayed with all her might for them to come back.

Her soon to be husband however was doing no such thing. In fact he did the opposite. He prayed that Light, Sazh, and Hope have found the chocobos and were safe and were right now just having the time of their lives riding and exploring more of Gran Pulse. They will be too busy having fun they forget the time. Then decide they are too far away so they'll camp for the night.

That way, he and Serah will have no choice but to stay and Snow will get Serah to see how much more happy she'll be if she stayed here with him, with NORA, with Sazh, and Hope, and Sis.

Snow felt guilty for wishing something that made only him happy...but what was wishing going to hurt? It's not like it was going to really come true.

**Lightning's POV**

"You see it Light?" Hope called out to me.

I decided to climb up one of the tall trees in hope I can see some sign of a chocobo. The trail was still there, but how far can a chocobo run? It had to stop somehwere, and the sun was beginning to go down.

I can hear Hope grunting as he struggled to climb the large tree like I did. Sazh was still recovering from all the running and the verdelet scare. It was then I saw something yellow in the distant. That chocobo must be flying. "I see it! There it is!" I called down. "Waaay over there!"

"That sounds far," I heard Sazh complain, "How many miles is that. Waaay..." He mimicked my voice, "Girl, that sounds like miles. Dammit."

"For a tired old man you got alot of energy for complaining." I barked down. Sazh has been complaining nonstop since this whole fiasco began. And he was the one who embarked on this ridiculous journey.

"Wark!" I heard a chocobo directly below me, and Hope screamed very unmanly as he fell, Sazh grunting as the teenager landed on him. The chocobo pushed me out of the tree, and I was suddenly mounted on it's back. I tried to grab hold, already slipping off the bird.

I leaned forward to try and wrap my arms around it's neck, and the chocobo grunted, bucking up and throwing me off it's back. I landed hard, and the chocobo raced off. Hope called for me, sending healing magic, even though I only had the breath knocked out of me is all. Sazh however ran past me, limping as he did to catch up with the chocobo.

I sat back up, spitting out chocobo feathers as Hope hovered over me like a worried mother. "Now it's personal."

**General POV**

Up ahead Sazh continued his pursuit on the chocobo, and straight ahead he was surprised on what he had seen.

The chocobo was waiting for him. Not in a way that assures his capture, but the giant bird snapped his neck back and forth teasingly, challenging Sazh.

Sazh doesn't play like that. It was now a stand off between the two. A tumbleweed (wherever the hell it came from) rolled past like it was an old western movie. Sazh whistled the stand off tune as he continued his staredown with the chocobo. The bird bowed his head, eyes not leaving the human's gaze.

Sazh squinted his eyes, the chocobo did as well.

His hand twitched over his gun, the chocobo flapped it's wing.

Sazh spit to the side, the chocobo just let out a low and long 'waaark...'

Then the dark skinned man took a step forward and the chocobo mirrored his movements. Until they were starting to walk towards each other. Then the chocobo stopped. Sazh at first thought the chocobo gave up but then it went berserk, warking as it started charging at Sazh, beak wide open ready to bite his head off.

Sazh jumped to one side and the chocobo began to maul him.

**Lightning's POV**

We had finally made it to where Sazh had run off to, and I was surprised to see the chocobo on top of Sazh. Our companion hollered as the chocobo began attacking Sazh. Then it stopped and stared at us, its eyes crazy, almost resembling the chocobo from the kids cereal 'Choco Puffs'.

"Run kids!" I heard Sazh scream."Save yourselves!"

The chocobo actually roared instead of a usual and normal chocobo noise. I grabbed Hope's hand and began running in the opposite direction as fast as we could.

"What about Sazh!?" Hope cried to me.

"He's fine Hope." I assured, "just hurry it up!"

The chocobo continued squwaking like it just lost it's neck down the trail we practically forged for hours on end. But then the giant bird flew over our heads and we had no choice but go right.

Of course, stupid me, my right was Sazh's left earliar and we almost fell down that same cliff earliar. My leg slipped and Hope quickly grabbed my hand pulling me back up. When I was back up, the chocobo had caught Hope and dragged him away, his hands letting go of mine as he screamed. "Light!"

"Hope!" I exclaimed just as the chocobo climbed on top of him. I made to grab my gunblade until I heard Hope...

...laughing?

He was actually laughing as the chocobo attacked his belly. Hope continued to squirm and laugh. "Stop!" he screamed shrilly, "That tickles! Haha, Light get him off me."

The idiocy is rubbing off on me. Of course the chocobo can't hurt nobody. It barely has any teeth. What exactly was it going to do smother us in feathers?

The chocobo then began to dig into Hope's pants, which he disapproved. "Hey! Whoa, overfriendly chocobo! Hello!" He squealed the last part out when the chocobo pulled out more gyshal greens. "Oh, I forgot I had those still in my pocket."

That was why it attacked Sazh and Hope. I face palmed. Why am I such an idiot. The silver haired teen began petting the bird. "Hey, he's not mean. He's just hungry."

But then something with an afro quickly swooped in and tackled the chocobo off of Hope, making the bird let out a surprised 'wark!' and feathers to fly about. "Don't worry kids, Sazh got this!"

"Sazh wait, the chocobo's not!" I exclaimed but Sazh began falling over the cliff with the chocobo.

"Sazh!" Hope screamed running to catch him like he did me, but he jumped too far and ended up falling over as well. When I made to grab his leg I was dragged over. The four of us fell.

**General POV**

It was finally time for the Primarch to depart. He had left Ser Joxe to help out the survivors in any way he can, since they were planning on staying permaneantly.

Rygdea and Ruby said their goodbyes. "I really wish you could come, Rygy." Ruby said.

The Calvary soldier kissed his lover with all his might, putting as much love into as he could. When he pulled away he wiped away a single tear on Ruby's face. "I'm needed here, doll. Don't worry I'll come visit you and your boy. I'll see you become a star."

Harry was standing next to his mother, looking down shyly. Rygdea finally pulled away from Ruby and knelt down in front of Harry. "Hey," he poked his chest softly. "take care of your mama."

"I will. Always." Harry promised. "Rygdea, I never had a dad before...thank you...for...being the closest thing to a dad I ever had."

Rygdea choked up, embracing Harry. To tell the truth, he considered Harry to be his son. They had alot of things in common, and even their relationship mirrored a father and son. When he pulled away he ruffled his long black hair making him chuckle.

Ainu, Dajh, and Marlene approached the ten year old. The six year old with the afro gave Harry a big hug, and Chocolina did the same. "We're gonna miss you Harry."

"Gonna miss you guys too." The ten year old said. Ainu and he did their own special handshake, which was crossing their arms over each other and holding on, then making a weird wave with them. Dajh and Marlene had commented on how stupid it was, but right now it was heartfelt. They then hugged.

Marlene was last, she hugged Harry so tight then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I thought you were leaving as well?" Yuna had asked Vera when she wasn't making a move to leave.

"I changed my mind. There's too much to do here." She said mysteriously.

Serah frowned as she watched Ruby and Harry board the airship with the Primarch. Lightning never came home. She had even asked Snow if they could leave without Lightning but Snow had talked her out of it saying how devastated Lightning would have been if she came back and she and Snow were just gone.

Ruby waved one more time to Rygdea and the other survivors then disappeared into the airship. Vayne cordially waved as the airship took off. When the primarch finally left Bartholomew went back to work.

"Lieutenant." he called. "I want you and your men to venture into the woods and find my son and the others. They have been gone all day, and anything could have happened to them."

"You got it." Amodar responded as he, Cloud, and Squall made their move.

Bartholomew approached Dajh, squeezing the six year old's shoulder, "You can stay with me tonight. Take Cloud's bed."

Dajh nodded taking Bartholomew's hand and following him home, the chocobo chick stared off for a bit before sadly following the six year old.

Rygdea returned home, realizing he had the house to himself. Bartholomew will probably move people in, like Vera (he shuddered at the thought of her staying here), or Morrigan. Maybe even Cloud. He wouldn't mind that.

He laid in the bed he shared with Ruby, already missing her and Harry.

Serah, now at home with Snow, was beyond upset on not being able to go home. Snow tried cheering her up but nothing worked. This gave time for Snow to actually grasp that Lightning, Sazh, and Hope were missing.

_Did something happen to them?_ He asked himself. He worried for their safety and feels guilty for not going with them. _If I was there with them I could have done something_.

His wish only half came true. He and Serah are staying here while his other friends were probably stuck in the woods or Etro knows where.

Or worse...

He climbed out of bed, about to leave the house. "Where are you going?" Serah asked.

Snow stopped. Where was he going? To help look for his future sister in law? He glanced back at Serah, having changed her white nightgown, hair down, make up still on. His future wife.

His hand let go of the door. "Nowhere." he said.

Serah cocked her head to the side puzzedly.

"Serah, are you worried about Sis?"

"Of course." Serah exclaimed, turning away. She then began to cry.

Snow felt even more guilty. He trusted that Amodar and the others will find them. Serah needs him now. He wrapped his arms protectively around her small frame from behind, kissing her.

**?**

Luckily, the three L'Cie plus a chocobo landed in a river. But it was moving very rapidly. The chocobo continued squealing in fear and Sazh swam over to help it.

Hope looked around for his mentor. "Where's Light?" he asked. "Light!"

He found a familiar head of pink sink further down underwater. He dove under to rescue her. He couldn't see much with the rushing of the river but he finally managed to reach out for her pulling her up.

She was unconcious, a gash on her head, she probably hit it against one of the rocks. "What do we do now?" Hope asked Sazh from across.

The dark skinned man was already helping the chocobo onto land. Hope followed, Lightning held close and protectively in his right arm while his left hand held onto rocks so he wouldn't go rushing downstream again.

He made Sazh take Lightning, the chocobo laying flat on its side, breathing heavily and Hope helped himself out the river.

"The soldergirl's out cold." Sazh said. He hissed when he saw the gash, "poor girl. keeps gettin' beat up."

Hope untied his bandana around his neck and cleaned the wound with a potion he carried and then wrapped it clumsily with the wet cloth.

"Uh, kid...is she even breathing?" Sazh asked when he noticed Lightning was lifeless.

Hope's eyes widened and his heart raced. He pressed his ear against her chest, unzipping her turtleneck more. Nothing.

"Light!" he screamed.

"Do you know CPR?" Sazh panicked.

The chocobo continued to cry in pain, trying to get the others attention. Hope put the bottom of his palm in the center of Lightning's chest like how they instructed him in middle school and began to push hard.

The chocobo continued moaning in pain.

"Do mouth to mouth!" Sazh told Hope.

"What!?" Hope squeaked. "I'm not doing mouth to mouth!"

"Oh yes you are!" The dark skinned man began shoving the teenager down, going into hysterics.

Hope shoved Sazh off of him, then leaned over Lightning. "You go fix the chocobo's leg. It's broken." The teenager instructed.

Sazh got up and approached the chocobo who continued to cry.

Hope's heart raced even faster. He knew this is a serious medical procedure and not really a kiss...but still the thought of his mouth on hers...he shook his head.

_Remain profressional_, he lectured himself, _You're going to be a doctor someday._

He opened Light's mouth slightly, pressed his lips over hers and breathed out two quick shallow breaths. Hope pulled back and checked Lightning's breathing. Still nothing.

He repeated the whole cycle until Lightning began coughing water up into Hope's mouth. The teenager pulled away, wiping his cheek and Sazh let out a sigh of relief as Lightning's eyes began to slowly open.

**AN: I wasn't going to add this end scene, but this chapter was so close to 7,000 words so I said "Screw it".**

**Light x Hope fans might take this as fanservice, and I'm only going to say "take it however you like, that wasn't what I was aiming for."**

**Anyways...this 'Chocobo arc' was very enjoyable to come up with. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.**


	12. Yellow, White, & Black

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warning: Implied Sexual intercourse**

**Lightning's POV**

I was wet. I was cold. And my lungs felt like they were on fire! My head felt like it was swimming, and my clothes felt heavy and clung to my body. The back of my head throbbed, and I could feel the blood flowing.

Somebody far away was calling my name and yelling at me, but I was so out of it I was sure I was responding. At least my brain was telling the person the shut the hell up before I punched them in the face.

But I couldn't speak nevertheless take the time to raise my arm and smack them. And besides they seemed too far away anyway. What the hell happened? Where was I? Those two questions were what I kept asking myself during my time "asleep".

It was then I slowly I began to make out what was reality. My conciousness began to retake me, and the cold got colder, I felt wetter, and...something was coming up. Was I about to vomit?

I coughed and sputtered water. More particularly _river_ water. My eyes were beginning to open, but everything was still dark and fuzzy. But the voice became more distinct and closer, it was Hope's.

"Light? Are you alright?" He asked me.

What do you think? My vision finally began to make out Hope who was leaning over me, tending to the back of my head. His face was flushed and water from his clothes fell on me. I struggled to sit back up, ignoring Hope's attempts to lay me back down.

Sazh was sitting, watching me intently from across the way, leaning against the chocobo, apparently on good terms with him now. The chocobo had a yellow bandage around it's leg, and I assumed it's broken.

I looked around, hoping we were in familiar territory. We weren't. I saw where we fell from, but how we get back up...no clue.

I stood back up, this time actually forcibly pushing Hope away for fussing and I limped toward Sazh who just watched me. I brushed my long hair out of my face, tightened my fist and punched Sazh square in the jaw. "You see what you did!" I yelled angrily.

"Light, it's not Sazh's fault!" Hope screamed at me.

"She's right, kid." Sazh muttered. "I'm the one responsible. I shouldn't have been so reckless."

"Damn right." I continued. Even though he knew what he did was wrong, I was still mad at Sazh right now. Everyone's probably looking for us and I don't even know where we were. And our only way out can't even walk himself.

"Guys," Hope stood in between us, I almost pushed him away again. Hope's a good kid, but sometimes he needs to just step back and let me pulverize people when they deserve them. "We're cold, wet, cranky, and tired..."

"Thanks, kid..." Sazh said sarcastically as the silver haired teen stated the obvious.

He narrowed his eyes at the older man. "But arguing and punching people..." he glanced at me when he said that and I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, "is not going to get us out. What we need to do is-"

"**Waaark...**" The chocobo whined.

"What we need to do is-"

"**WAAAaaark...**" It whined once more, trying to get the teenager's attention. It even rolled over and stared up at us as it displayed it's dramatic act.

"Wh-"

"**W**_**AAA**_**AAAaaa-**"

"Shut up, Chocobo!" Hope snapped at the overdramatic bird. "I know you're hurt! Just wait, dammit!"

It was more amusing then scary since Hope only resembled an angry grasshopper. Jumping up and down, face red, voice cracking, and flailing his arms about. The chocobo plopped its head back flat on the ground, grumbling to itself. Sazh hid his smirk.

"Where was I?" Hope asked, covering his face trying to cool down.

"I'm assuming you were going to say rest for the night then find our way out in the morning." Sazh finished. "Fine, I'm clearly not going to get home to Dajh anytime soon."

"Hope's dad probably sent a search party." I added. "But I doubt they'll come all this way."

The silverhaired teen decided to check up on the injured Chocobo, and I sat next to Sazh. "Soldiergirl," He began, "I really am sorry. I just really needed to get that chocobo for Dajh."

I sighed, nobody could really stay mad at Sazh. He was usually the voice of reason, but...people do get overexcited. And well..."We did catch him. Sort of."

If you consider running away from a hungry chocobo like kindergarteners at a petting zoo and falling after him over a cliff "catching a chocobo" then we were chocoboys after all. If Fang knew about this she would laugh so hard she'd cry. Her and Vanille.

It's moments like these where I really wish they were here with us. First of all, because we wouldn't be stuck _anywhere_ on Gran Pulse, and second, because they brought alot more light in situations. Fang made things seem easiar even if they weren't, and though I would never say it to her face, she was a better leader...when we're on Gran Pulse. I still have Cocoon.

And Vanille was just happy **all the time**. Though I found it annoying at first, I grew to find it endearing, and realized that being that happy 24/7 was not easy. And there were also the stories, and the songs.

Then I realized something I never thought I would say...and I dare not say this aloud.

But I missed Snow. Even though he was usually the main one to make the stupid decisions...he was our strength, even though his motivational speeches was mostly mediocre old one liners from classic videogames...

Snow was Snow. We needed him. Probably now more than ever.

I prayed that he was treating my little sister right, since she is the most precious thing I will ever care about.

Sazh laughed after my comment about the chocobo. He patted the big bird on the back and it made a happy noise. "Yup, we did. I wonder what my little boy will name him?"

I shrugged. "If it was this much trouble to capture one, how are you going to run a corral?"

"I dunno. I'm sure there's an art to catching chocobos. All I know is that it must involve alot of gyshal greens. Probably gonna have to gather a team on it."

"Count me out." I muttered.

"I wasn't going to count you in." he told me. "I saw the way you bolted with the kid."

"You told me to." I argued. Sazh rose an eyebrow, not believing me.

"Oh please...like you listen to me."

**General POV**

Amodar, Cloud, and Squall have been searching for the missing L'Cie most of the night. It was only when the Lieutenant displays moments of exhaustion did Cloud suggest camping for the night.

"Chocobos run fast and far," Amodar said as Squall worked on getting a fire started. "Didn't think they'd follow him."

Cloud watched the fire sparks wearily. They were giving more source of light then source of heat. "You really think it's a good idea to start a fire in the middle of unfamiliar territory."

Squall looked up at Cloud upon his statement. "Good point." He replied, patting down the fire.

"It's hot here." Amodar commented, taking his coat off. "The weather here on Gran Pulse is ridiculous. It's hot, blazin' hot, then we find a home that's cold and snowin', then we're right back in the blazin' heat. And it's nighttime."

"It feels more humid." Cloud pointed out. "You don't think it would rain do you?"

Amodar groaned, "Now I am...you really are a light of sunshine, Cloud. You know what I realized...the most depressed and serious soldiers in the Guardian Corps, first of all are the only survivors, and your names are having to do with weather that makes you depressed."

Squall huffed, "I'm not always depressed and serious." he said. "At least not anymore."

"I know." Amodar said. "You were while you were a teenager though. Moody, angsty little thing. Up until you met..." He trailed off and he noticed Squall stop for a moment before continuing to put out the small fire. "I'm sorry, Leonhart. I didn't mean..."

"You're right...I was...'angsty'. Rin brought light to my life." This was the first time Squall brought up his wife since her passing. "We argued alot. But I believe it's better she had her own opinion then for her to give up everything to be with me. She was just...fun to be around. Made me laugh...made me happy...made me..."

"I really am sorry about her." Squall's superior continued. "She was a sweet girl. A bit of a troublemaker...but sweet."

"Now I understand what they mean 'better to have loved and lost, then to never loved at all.' "

Cloud, though he had remained silent at first, was listening to Squall intently, "You think you will ever love again?"

Amodar glanced at the blonde swordsman, perplexed. The brunette shook his head. "No. My only real love was Rinoa."

"There's the depression." Amodar pointed out. "You need to get remarried eventually, so you're not chasing ghosts."

Squall snickered...but Cloud flinched at his words. "Don't worry about me, Lieutenant." Squall said. "I'm not planning on chasing ghosts anytime soon. I just don't see myself with anyone else. Maybe I will find someone else. But until I do, and I'm sure of it...then maybe...I don't know."

"I'm going to sleep." Cloud said, more reserved and sounding slightly angry, laying on his back and closing his eyes.

During the night, a darkness lurked within Oerba Village.

Chaos.

It traveled throughout the village, watching people sleep. But it definitely lingered slightly longer at Snow's house.

If this darkness was a human, it may have been mistaken for perving as it stayed in Snow and Serah's bedroom for some time as the two made love. The chaos wasn't watching them for that, of course not.

But it did recognize the figures. One was an ex L'Cie...while the other. The darkness swooped out of the bedroom just as Snow stopped. He looked out the window, his future wife looking up at him, skin shining from sweat, hair clinging to her face. "Why...why'd you stop?" She asked, breathing heavily.

Snow felt somebody watching him, and it made him uncomfortable. He saw the the window was opened. "Serah, didn't you say you closed the window?" he asked her.

Serah whined abit when Snow climbed off her. He opened the window slightly, checking outside for any sign of a peeping tom or a thief. Or maybe even a monster. But nobody was outside. He shut the window so he can continue in he and Serah's lovemaking.

The chaos snuck underneath the window and it's next stop was at Morrigan's. She wasn't sleeping. Well, she _was_ sleeping. The dark haired pregnant woman, _because_ she was pregnant, was woken up in the middle of the night, desiring to eat.

She chuckled at her baby's control of her diet but instead of fussing and getting upset over it, Morrigan began cooking a whole meal, a bubbling pot full of different types of meats and vegteables. She also added some chocolate to the mix. Yes chocolate. And salt.

The darkness watched Morrigan, her back turned to it as she hummed to her belly. it crept up on her...sensing not just a baby...but an entity. Morrigan's gold eyes narrowed and she spun on her heel and was face to face with the chaos.

It fled the shack and Morrigan went back to her cooking like nothing happened.

It's next stop was Bartholomew's house. It entered the room Lightning and Cloud shared, where Dajh was sleeping soundily in the blonde swordsman bed. He was sharing the bed with a baby chocobo and a small white wolfhound.

Since Cloud had on more then one occasion expressed his distaste for animals. He wouldn't be too happy to learn that they were sleeping in his bed. Dajh figured what Cloud didn't know wouldn't hurt him. The darkness watched the six year old sleep, a small smile on his face. Ex L'Cie. It sensed.

The six year old never knew about the chaos that watched over him. It's next stop was Terra.

She slept in her own room, her long curly hair fanned out underneath, she resembled a princess waiting for her prince charming to rescue her from her eternal sleep with a kiss. She mumbled in her sleep.

The darkness lingered over her...she had the same aura as Snow's...only it was weaker...buried within her. She wasn't what the darkness was looking for. Terra felt a shadow over her and opened her eyes. When she saw the dark cloud over her head she gasped sitting back up.

The chaos fled the house before Terra could spot it again. She clasped her heart, trying to calm her breathing back down. When she managed to convince herself it was just a dream she laid back down...but she was staring straight up at the ceiling anxiously.

The darkness left the village when it was done, and it managed to ruffle past the Guardian Corps soldier. But it stopped as well with the others to watch. Squall was the one who woke up. Amodar grunted and Cloud was sleeping heavily.

When the chaos made for another move, Squall quickly stood, gunblade drawn. "Show yourself." he ordered.

Cloud woke up. "Squall, what are you doing?"

"We're being watched." he told him.

The darkness fled and Squall shot his gun at it, but it was long gone.

The chaos finally after much traveling came across Lightning's camp.

She and her group, despite having been annoyed with each other earliar that night had somehow gravitated toward each other, until they were snuggled up on the chocobo, their respective jackets acting as blankets.

Sazh let out a loud snore, flopping over until he slid off the chocobo and laid crookedly to the side. The darkness sensed it. Three L'Cies. It hovered over the trio and Hope only turned over, letting out a tired whimper.

The chocobo woke up and let out a low menacing noise. The darkness's work was done and left Gran Pulse. Lightning woke up a little too late and glared at the chocobo. She ignored him and only curled up closer to Hope's back.

In the morning, Snow heard something tapping his window. When he opened his eyes he saw Gadot pressing his face against the glass. He waved him over. Snow looked down at his future wife sleeping across his chest and gingerly snuck out from underneath her, got dressed and left the house, trying not to wake her.

"Hey, man." Gadot greeted.

"Gadot, were you at my house last night too?" Snow asked.

Snow's bestfriend just furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, shaking his head. "No. I was sleep."

"So what's up?" Snow asked.

"Follow me." Gadot said, making his way to Lenora's Garage. Hoping Serah wouldn't mind Snow followed his bestfriend to his job. Instead of going inside, they circled the building to where the actual garage was.

Maqui was sitting with Yuj and a sullen Rygdea. Snow remembered Ruby leaving. "Hey, Rygdea," he greeted, "How are you feeling?"

The Calvary soldier sighed, "been better. I'm just waitin' for Bartholomew to move people in Harry's room."

"We figured you'd be in a bad mood." Yuj said.

"So we thought to cheer you up with something fun to do." Maqui smiled, pushing his goggles down over his eyes. "Ready, Gadot?"

The tanned man opened the garage and Rygdea and Snow (who was unaware of NORA's plan to cheer up Rygdea) waited for the big surprise to be revealed. Their jaws dropped when they saw two motorcycles sitting inside.

"Where in the hell did you get these?" Rygdea asked, not able to keep his eyes off them.

"We made them." Maqui said.

"Get out of here." Snow said in astonishment as he evaluated the motorcycle. "These are so beautiful."

"Anybody up for some racing?" Gadot asked.

"Is it safe?" Yuj asked. "I don't think Bartholomew will be happy with these."

"Bart's never happy with anything." Gadot muttered. "Just cause we don't have roads anymore doesn't mean we can't race. Snow, remember when we were in highschool and we raced on the beach."

Snow laughed aloud. "Yeah. We terrorized everyone!"

The large man was in a difficult position right now. Serah would be angry with him for doing something as stupid and reckless as race with motorcycles in the village. Though Rygdea was talking about flying out of the village. Bartholomew will be totally against that.

But Snow believed he and Rygdea earned this. They've been good even before the fall of Cocoon. Couldn't they have _one day_? One day to do something totally reckless. And it's motorcycle racing. Snow's past time!

He remembered, when he wasn't fighting, he was fixing up old bikes and racing them with Gadot on the beach. He forgot about all his worries, all his troubles. His mind was on the road, or lack of ahead of him.

What would Serah say?

"So, we racin'?" Maqui asked.

"Aw, hell yeah!" Rygdea said, high fiving Gadot. "Alright!"

"What about you Snow?" Yuj asked.

"I don't know..." Was the rebel leader's answer.

"You don't know?" Gadot asked. "Motorcycles are your baby, man."

"Yeah, but I don't know if Serah will be alright with me doing this."

The rest of the men, including Rygdea let out a groan. Snow was taken aback by this.

"What?"

"Snow, this is what you used to do before you met Serah." Gadot tried to persuade Snow. "Serah fell in love with you didn't she? You're not doing anything bad, you're just racing."

"Doesn't Serah have a class to teach anyway?" Yuj asked.

"I'll race then." Snow said.

Everybody else seemed pleased with it except Gadot. When the others went off to get ready, Snow's bestfriend intervened him. "Snow, what happened to you man? You used to be so fun."

"I said I was racing."

"When your wife can't find out. It's like your having an affair. You're just hanging out with friends. Are you not allowed to do that now?"

Snow didn't really know how to respond to his childhood friend. "I'm in love."

"Love?" Gadot crossed his arms, masking his hurt. "Serah's a great girl. She really is. But I doubt she's going to dump you just because you spend an hour or two hanging out with us. She's working...you're...well you've been working. I think it's time you had some guy time."

Snow sighed, rubbing the back of his bandana. "I guess..."

"No...no. Don't say 'I guess' say 'yeah!'."

Snow grinned abit. "Yeah."

"Yeah what?" Gadot asked.

"Yeah." Snow nodded, feeling a bit of weight off his shoulders, "I need some guy time."

"That's the spirit."

"I need to spend more time with my friends. My bestfriend."

"Okay, now you're just flattering me."

"And...motorcycles!" Snow yelled the last part out. "I love motorcycles! Oh yeah! We're gonna race! We're gonna race these babies!"

"Yeah!" The two high fived each other.

**Lightning's POV**

By the time the sun was coming up, the heat had dried up our clothes, and proceeded to make us sweat underneath our jackets. Our coats were splayed out away from our bodies, but we were not planning on waking up anytme soon.

Until I felt somebody watching over us sleeping. I opened my eyes, and Old Dalan was standing in front of the sun, a shadow casting over me. The reason I knew it was Dalan was because he was bent much too low for a normal person. And he was the only one who does this.

"Good Morning, Miss. Farron." he greeted.

I blinked blearily up at him. "Old Dalan?" I asked. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

Then I sat up, looking around for others, but it seemed Dalan was alone. "What are you doing here?" I repeated.

Sazh snorted, sitting up straight. "I'm up. I'm up." He said upon hearing my voice.

Hope sat up, yawning and stretching.

"Are you lost?" Old Dalan asked us.

"How. Did. You. Get. Here?" I asked one more time, my patience waning.

"I walked." Dalan replied nochalantly walking around and studying our surroundings.

"Duh you walked!" I spat.

"No need to shout, young lady." The old man continued to examine a plant.

"Wait a minute?" Sazh began, crawling to Dalan, "were you gone since the training program?"

"I had decided to take a walk." He answered. "I was just on my way back now."

"You mean to tell us you've been out on a stroll all day?" Hope asked.

"And night. Both nights." Dalan counted on his fingers.

"Then, we're not that far away from Oerba." I decided.

"No, not at all. It would be much quicker if you still had your chocobo." Dalan replied.

"Well once his leg heals...wait, still had?" Sazh trailed off. We looked behind us, the chocobo was gone.

"Son of a-" I swore. "We gotta go after it. We came all this way and fell down a cliff for him. I refuse to go back empty handed."

"That's the spirit." Old Dalan praised.

"He's probably long gone by now." Hope said aloud pessimistically.

"I don't care if it's dead."

Sazh, Hope, and Old Dalan gasped at the same time.

"What?" I said, "we can make fried chocobo."

"Oh, you wrong for that." Sazh mumbled.

"I don't care." I said. I was sick of this chocobo making me look like an idiot. This game gets less and less funny. It wasn't funny to begin with. I drew my gunblade so I can handle this chocobo once and for all. "I know Dajh is your son, Sazh. But this chocobo is more trouble than he's even worth."

"Don't worry, Mr. Katzroy." Old Dalan yelled, "I'll protect your chocobo." he pushed me down then galloped away.

I jumped to my feet and followed him while Sazh and Hope yelled after me. "Dalan!" I shouted after the kooky old man, "The bird's lunch."

"He's a beautiful creature of this beautiful world." Dalan sung. He suddenly stopped, dropping to the ground, "I've spotted him."

"Where?" Hope asked, running past me and leaning over Dalan, the two peeking around cliff. Me and Sazh stood over them and followed suit.

The chocobo was just standing there, looking around for something and making a weird noise I haven't heard a chocobo make in a long time. I took this as a chance to finish the job. When Sazh saw the gun he tried to take it from me.

"No!" he whispered. "You're not killing Dajh's new pet chocobo just cause you're pissed off at it."

"Dajh has a chocobo!" I whispered back, trying to pull my gunblade back away from him. "She's small, cute, and likeable."

"I'm starting to not like you right now. You don't see me drawing my gun."

"I dare you."

Hope turned around at us, "Can both of you shut up!" he whispered. "Or else you'll scare it away."

"There's another chocobo." Dalan told us. We continued our spectating, and approaching the yellow chocobo was a smaller, more slender white chocobo. I've never seen anything like it. It was...beautiful.

The white chocobo strutted slowly towards the yellow chocobo, stroking it's back with it's wing. The yellow chocobo made what I assumed was a pleasing sound. "I see what's going on here." I said while Sazh chuckled over me.

"The chocobos are in love." Hope said excitedly.

"The yellow chocobo is about to perform the chocobo mating ritual." Old Dalan informed us.

Our chocobo let out a wark, spread it's wings out and began to do a stupid little dance that consisted of it really only just hopping two times to the side and back. The white chocobo seemed impressed by this ridiculous display of affection.

The two made more pleasing noises as the two embraced each other with their necks. "Aw..." Sazh, Hope, and Dalan said at the same time.

Sazh nudged my shoulder, "Oh come on, you gotta admit this is cute."

"Yeah, sure, really cute. Can we go now." I quickly said. Old Dalan slithered from underneath us and approached the chocobos.

Well really he ran towards them, arms open. "Congradulations!" He cried. "I am so happy for you two."

"We can take them both with us? Can we?" Hope asked.

The chocobos conversed with each other and, like they understood Hope and nodded.

"Sweet." Sazh said pleased. "Now Soldiergirl doesn't have to eat them."

"Not making any promises." I warned. I was starving having not eaten at all yesterday since we spent that time chasing after this stupid bird.

Old Dalan scooped Hope up, the teenager looking perplexed in return, and he placed him on the back of the yellow chocobo, Old Dalan climbing behind him. "You two can ride his missus." Dalan instructed us, nudging the yellow chocobo in the direction back to Oerba.

Sazh and I exchanged a glance and I mounted the white chocobo, Sazh clumsily climbing on behind me. He never learned how to properly mount a chocobo.

"Onward." Dalan said pointing in the direction he wished to go.

Instead of the running, the chocobos walked. "Oh, right," Sazh said behind me, "his leg's broken."

I sighed.

**General POV**

"Ready..." Yuj stood inbetween the motorcycles that Snow and Gadot were mounted on. Some spectators (containing Vaan, Reks, and Tidus) had heard the noise outside and came out to watch the race.

Yuna stood on standby, expecting somebody to get hurt.

Terra was there as well, trying not to seem to interested in the races. She had to go to work soon, and with work piling up, it'd be a terrible idea to miss a day because she was watching men race each other.

"Set..." Rygdea and Snow leaned forward slightly on their motorcycles, eyeing each other, hands gripping the sides tightly.

"Go!" They both snapped their attention forward and Snow took the lead by a landslide. Rygdea cursed lagging after him.

"Eat snow, Rygdea!" Snow called back, skidding on his bike, sending crystal particles in his opponent's way as he swatted at them.

"Oh I get it!" Maqui exclaimed. "His name is Snow and he said eat snow meaning...that's good." Everyone else just ignored Maqui as they continued to watch the two men run the circuit. Upon hearing the commotion, Bartholomew exited his house with Dajh behind him.

"What is this?!" He exclaimed.

Gadot stuttered and Lebreau stared smugly at him. "Uh...well, you see."

"Is my daddy back?" Dajh asked, peeking behind Bartholomew. When he saw Snow and Rygdea racing he forgot all about his worries and joined the spectators, Reks putting Dajh on his shoulders so he can see better. "Go Rygdea!" He cheered.

Snow narrowed his eyes at Dajh playfully. "Traitor!" he yelled at him.

Dajh stuck his tongue out.

When Serah woke up that morning, she was surprised to find Snow not by her side. She figured he must have left for work early. So she pulled out some clothes she was planning on wearing that day and was about to make her way to the bathhouse when she saw Lenora's Garage.

She approached the small building, seeing that both inside the store and garage were empty. "Where are they?" She asked. She looked around her, and it was noticeably that there were alot less people out today.

Serah went to look for Yuna at her clinic, she was always at her clinic, but even she was gone. Did something happen? Next she checked Tifa and Lebreau's bar to ask the latter if she knew anything about NORA's whereabouts.

But instead she found the former who begrudgingly started making breakfast. "Tifa? Where's Lebreau?"

Tifa sighed annoyed, slamming a plate down almost breaking the dish. "Never showed up. She's watching those dumb boys racing. If Cloud wasn't out searching for your sister, he'd be joining them. Unbelievable." She continued to cook frustratingly, for no one in particular since the building was empty.

Serah's heart accelerated. If Snow's not with her and Lenora's Garage is closed...then that meant. "Where are they?"

Snow was close to the finish line. Lebreau was doing a cheer by herself (she tried to get Terra and Yuna to join her but the former was too shy and the latter was unamused by the entire situation). "Give me a 'S'!"

"S!" Vaan, Dajh, and Ainu chimed in.

"Give me a 'N'!"

"N!"

Serah scurried to the entrance of Oerba Village where the event was taking place. Bartholomew sighed heavily. This cannot end well. The younger Farron asked around for her future husband, looking about ready to cry from all the worrying.

"Give me an...'O'..." Lebreau saw Serah. "Oh shit..."

"Oh-" Reks quickly covered Dajh's mouth, who thought it was part of the cheer.

Snow grinned like an idiot as soon as he crossed the finish line. NORA cheered and Rygdea hopped off his motorcycle to shake his opponent's hand being a good sport. Serah saw this and was appaled that Snow, instead of working was out playing around. She was about to storm over when Terra blocked her way angry.

"Where were you?" Terra demanded out of the younger Farron.

Serah was taken aback at the older woman's tone. Why was she mad at her? "I had only just woke up."

"I meant yesterday." Terra tried again. "Hm?"

Serah can only stare down at Terra. Even though the thirty four year old was shorter than Serah, she was still older, and she still felt the fear of an elder lecturing her.

Terra rolled her eyes at Serah's lack of response. "Class! You didn't show up for class! I had to have Laguna fill in for you."

_"Hello everyone I am your substitute teacher, Mr. Loire. Like how a 'lure' in women."_

_Terra face palmed._

_"Yes, this is a mechanical leg. I guess that makes me half robot."_

_Terra face palmed a second time that day._

_"I was a soldier once, but then I got married. She's dead now. I never loved again. My son Squall had said something...something like 'It's better to be lost with a love then to never be...lost at all?' That's sounds about right."_

_He then proceeded to sob in front of the whole class about how horrible a person he is, how horrible a husband he was, and how horrible a father he was. How horrible a brother he was and how horrible a writer he was. He seemed the most particularly upset about that last one._

Serah's eyes then lit up in realization. "Oh my goodness. I totally forgot. I am so sorry, Terra. I was with the Primarch."

"Uh-huh." Terra said it like she didn't believe her. Before Serah could say anything else, she noticed Snow try to sneak away from her.

"Snow!" Serah called out to her soon to be husband.

Snow winced and turned around hugging her and kissing her. "Serah. Oh baby, you're awake. Did you sleep well. I love you hunny, bunny."

"Don't 'hunny bunny' me!" Serah lectured, surprisingly pulling away from Snow. "I cannot believe you snuck out the house in the middle of the night to play."

"We're not playing around." Snow tried to explain. He saw Gadot making gestures behind Serah. "I mean, yeah we were. But we were just trying to cheer Rygdea up. After Ruby left he's been sort of down in the dumps..." Gadot stared at Snow expectantly and the large man sighed, "It's...a guy thing...Serah...you...wouldn't understand..." He literally had to force that out of his mouth.

Serah's jaw dropped and Gadot gave up thumbs up. "I...have to go to work." Serah whispered, looking shocked by Snow's statement.

"Serah! Wait I didn't mean it bab-"

"You did good Snow." Gadot clapped Snow on the back.

Snow only dropped his head. "She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you man. You two are in that honeymoon phase. Now that you're getting married you have to spend some time doing what only you like to do."

Meanwhile, Amodar, Cloud, and Squall were still the woods searching for their missing survivors. "Did anyone else feel like we were being watched last night?" Squall asked.

Amodar sighed, "I do. All the time. After my wife and son died-"

"No...I'm not talking about a ghost of a loved one." The brunette pressed. "I mean something bad. Like a creature or somebody dangerous. Something's..." he turned around. "Following us."

"Maybe you just had a bad dream last night." Cloud assumed. "Now you're paranoid."

"Look out!" Amodar pulled out his giant weapon as an orobon appeared within the trees. "Is there a lake nearby? It looks like some sort of fish."

"Maybe! We can check when we're done with this!" Squall commented. He was then hit with water magic, soaking up his white t-shirt. "I never quite understand how water magic can 'hurt' me."

The orobon took that as a challenge as it summoned up a tsunami type spell, washing the GC soldiers down into the river. Amodar and Squall resurfaced while Cloud spluttered.

The first two just stared at Cloud waiting for him to get it. Then slowly Cloud stood up...the water only came up to his chest. His face flushed in embarassment and Amodar laughed in his face. "Haha! You were all 'help me Lieutenant!' " Amodar raised his voice so instead of imitating Cloud's real voice he sounded more womanly, " 'I can't swim! I'm drownin'!' "

Squall struggled not to laugh at the angsty blonde swordsman who clambered out of the river in humiliation. To make up for it, when the orobon tried to retake the river again, Cloud lifted his giant buster sword and stabbed it against a tree, slicing it in half.

The blood turned the river into a murky reddish brown. Amodar smacked his lips. "Welp. Guess we're not drinkin' outta this water."

Squall climbed out of the river and groaned when his white t-shirt was now the same color as the river. And it smelled pretty bad too. "Whatever." He groaned.

"I can't believe we haven't found Farron and the others yet." Amodar said as he climbed out of the river, "where could they have possibly gone? It's like they disappared over a cliff or something."

"We should probably head back for the village." Squall suggested, "maybe we can get Rygdea to let us use his airship and search for them airbourne."

"But we need to save that fuel in case we need to go to Cocoon." Cloud stated.

"Would we really?"

"Who knows." Amodar replied, "doesn't hurt anybody to save the fuel."

Squall shook the back of his head, trying to figure out exactly what to do. "I still think we should go back."

"Then we're just gonna go back to square one, boy. Why do you wanna go back so badly? Are you worried about your old man?"

"No. I don't care about my father. But there has to be another way to search."

"Listen, Leonhart, Strife. I usually never pick favorites. But Farron is my favorite soldier. She's strong without being arrogant. And she's quiet while being respectful. I consider her...like a daughter I never had. Her and her little sister even though she doesn't see me that way. I took care of her. And if that means venturing out into these wilds for her, then by Etro's Shrine I'm gonna do it. Go back if you want."

"You wouldn't venture out for eighter of us?" Cloud asked.

"Probably Leonhart, depending on the situation. But Strife, you piss me off too much. Now keep walking."

**Lightning's POV**

Dalan has been singing for three solid hours now. And poor Hope, who's been sitting in front of him had to endure it.

"_Don't let the wilds get you down, Estheim...'s...boy._" Dalan sang a little tto close to Hope's ear I can telling he was wincing.

And he continued to sing...and sing...that even the chocobos were making their own back up vocals. Nobody knows what songs the old geezer was singing, from what we can tell he makes it up as he goes.

Which means this can go on for some time. Dalan was singing/narrating things.

"_Rumble, rumble, rumble, Food glorious food..._"

"_It's time for a bathroom break. Boys here, girl over there..._"

Most embarassing one yet...

"_There you are Miss. Farron...we were about to get yooou...you were gone for a long time. Did you have number T-_"

"Let's just go! Gosh!" I snapped as he was getting ready to belt out the last note on the top of his lungs. Hope and Sazh had to hide their faces, most likely laughing at my expense.

Now even they were getting seriously annoyed with Dalan. "Hey," Sazh called to the old man from behind me, "can we take like an intermission or somethin' to your one man musical."

"As you wish." Dalan said and I sighed in relief.

"I can't believe we managed to capture two chocobos!" Hope exclaimed excitedly. "And they're so cute too!"

"Yeah." Sazh said, "we should be expecting more chocobo chicks sometime soon."

"Oh ho ho." Dalan laughed.

"Are we almost there yet?" Hope asked.

"Almost, young man." Dalan assured. "Is Gran Pulse not the most beautiful planet you ever explored."

"Well," Sazh began, "minus the man eating plants and deadly diseases, yes. It's beautiful."

"I miss Fang and Vanille." Hope stated suddenly.

"Yeah. Fang's singing was much better then Dalan's."

"Oh?" The older man said, he almost sounded like an owl.

"What exactly are you and Dajh are going to do with a flock of chocobos?" I asked the man sitting behind me.

"Well, we live on Gran Pulse now. Can't hurt to own a few right? You never know when we need to travel long distance. We can't use the airship. And we don't have our summons...yet...so this is more convenient. And fun."

"You don't even know how to mount one properly." I teased.

"You can't even ride them like a lady." Smack! "Ouch! What you can't."

"I'll fall off if I ride side saddle." I said. "Fang tried teaching me and...I kept falling. Vanille said she can't eighter so...just shut up Sazh."

"This white chocobo sure is pretty. I never knew chocobos came in different colors. Maybe there are green ones or orange ones."

"Probably shaped different too." Hope added.

Comparing the two chocobos we have in our possession now, it is safe to say that chocobos come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. The yellow one that Hope and Dalan are riding is like the usual common big and fluffy chocobos.

I can also assume that they are much faster then others.

The white chocobo was a girl chocobo, as we saw, and in contrast she is shaped for feminily. Instead of ruffly feathers, hers seemed thinner, softer, and clearly less of them. Her eyes were more slanted, and the top of it's head had naturally curled feathers.

Even it's noise is lighter and gentler then the yellow's obnoxious squawking.

Just then I heard something far off, but still close. The chocobos whistled and stopped moving. I drew my gunblade out and aimed my gun out in front of me.

"Hm?" Old Dalan hummed. "Who could that be?"

"You think they're people?" I asked. I had no idea if that was bad or good? More natives of Gran Pulse? I had thought everybody had died out. Nothing was clearly visible, all I saw were figures, and voices mumbling to each other.

I didn't feel like I was in total danger though, like I shouldn't I felt familiarity. I nudged the white chocobo slightly to confront the people wandering the woods.

"Soldiergirl, you sure about this?" Sazh asked, taking a firm hold of my hips.

"I don't think their bad?"

"Whatever happened to 'expect the worst'?" Hope asked, not moving. But Dalan had other plans. He kicked the side of the yellow chocobo and it raced ahead of us.

"Dalan!" I shouted. "Shit!" I kicked the side of the white chocobo and followed after him.

Whoever was in the woods must have heard us coming because they started to flee. We couldn't keep them in our line of vision. Then a series of bullets shot past us from seemingly nowhere. The chocobos skidded in their tracks and high tailed the opposite way as the strangers continued shooting at us.

I couldn't turn around because the chocobos were moving so fast and I could only hang on tightly around their neck, Sazh leaning heavily into me as the strangers continued shooting at us. "Why are they shooting?" Hope asked.

"I don't know." Sazh answered, "we're probabaly invading their territory."

While we fled we saw the sight of something black zoom past us. "What the hell was that?" I exclaimed aloud.

"They must have reinforcements." Hope cried.

I shouldn't be running. I stopped the chocobo, Sazh gripping onto me tighter and I aimed my gunblade at where the enemy would soon be coming from.

"Light!" Hope called, stopping his chocobo, but not running forward.

But instead of pulsian natives coming around the corner, it was Cloud, Squall, and Amodar. My Lieutenant was shooting at us. "Farron?" He looked down at his weapon and tried to hide the giant thing behind his back. "We found you."

"I told you to stop shooting." Squall muttered and Amodar let out an uncomfortable laugh.

Hope hopped off the chocobo unamused. "Why were you shooting at us!?"

"Heh, thought you were creatures. We had just fought this sea monster thing and I...well Squall got a bit paranoid."

"What?" The brunette exclaimed.

"Wait a minute." Sazh asked. "If you were the ones shooting at us. What was..." His eyes widened when a black chocobo strutted out of the trees and nudged Amodar.

"Sweet mother of Etro!" Amodar exclaimed falling over.

"So that's what was watching over us." Squall said.

"And ate all our food." Cloud added annoyed.

The black chocobo look more spiky then feathery, but he didn't look evil. Just more mysterious. The yellow and white chocobo cheered in happiness at their new friend.

"So now we have to bring all three chocobos to the village?" I asked.

Sazh rubbed his hands excitedly. "Oh boy, Dajh is gonna have a field day when he sees all these chocobos."

So Amodar, Cloud, and Hope mounted the black chocobo, Sazh and Old Dalan rode the white chocobo, and Squall and I rode the damn yellow chocobo, who clearly did not like me.

And the entire way home...Dalan continued his singing.

**General POV**

Bartholomew was worried about Hope. He was so worried that he couldn't even lecture NORA about the motorcycles. He just sat by the exit of Oerba, waiting for any sign of Hope or Amodar. Dajh would pace with him some time, but he was still a child, he couldn't sit still the entire time.

Even Snow arrived from time to time, hoping that his future sister in law and other friends would arrive home. "Mr. Estheim, I'm sorry for the motorcycles."

Bartholomew just waved it off. "I don't care. As long as you're not racing those things in the village I don't care what you do. How is Serah?"

"She's teaching right now." Snow replied. "I don't think she's too happy about the motorcycles. She thinks I might hurt myself."

Bartholomew pushed up his glasses, "you seem like you knew what you were doing."

"Well, I've been racing with motorcycles ever since I was eleven."

The older Estheim looked up at Snow surprisingly, "Your...oh...right..."

"I didn't have parents to tell me I wasn't suppose to." He responded. "Racing made me happy. Being with my friends made me happy. Being in love with Serah makes me happy."

"I understand, Snow." Bartholomew responded. "But don't let other people and things that make only you happy get in the way of what is really important. I made that mistake."

"You mean with Hope?"

"And Nora." His eyes casted down. "All I did was work. Not because I had to, but because...that was how I was brought up. My father taught me that you won't get anywhere in life if you forget your career and focus everything on your wife and son. Because of what my father told me, I never told Nora 'I love you' as much as I should. Why I never tell Hope 'I'm proud of you' everytime he shows me his Straight A report card, or a trophy he won at an event I eighter wasn't into or never showed up to."

Snow nodded taking in Bartholomew's words. Hope gave off the impression that his father never cared about him. And now he fusses over everything Hope does. He's trying to make up for all the times he ignored Hope.

"Bart?" Snow asked. "Do you feel like...Nora died because you weren't always there for her."

"I know it is. If I was there...if I came to Bodhum with them...Nora would still be alive. Hope would have never been a L'Cie. This is my punishment."

"Well then you can tell him now." Snow pointed toward the approaching black chocobo, where Hope was riding back.

"Hope!" Bartholomew jumped to his feet. Hope leaped of the black chocobo and let his father embrace him. "I am so glad you're safe."

"Chocobos!" Dajh exclaimed, running towards the returning group. Sazh climbed off the white one and picked Dajh up in his arms.

Snow watched as Lightning climbed off the yellow one. Not caring about anything else at the moment he hugged Lightning.

**Lightning's POV**

I froze as Snow pulled me into his large arms. "We were so worried about you." he whispered.

"Where's Serah?" I asked, waiting patiently for Snow to finally let go.

He did, thankfully, "She's teaching right now."

"I'll see her." I told him.

"What in the world are we goin' to do with them chocobos?" Rygdea asked.

"I built a corral for them." Maqui said. "Just bring them over."

"What are you gonna name them, Son?" Sazh asked, placing him on the back of the black chocobo.

"Haven't thought of any yet. I didn't know you were going to get me three chocobos." He giggled.

Snow led me towards the schoolhouse where my sister was teaching her class. When she saw me she gave me a big hug. "Where have you been?" Serah asked about to cry.

"Chocobo hunting. Can you believe it?" I asked. She shook her head, wiping away her own tears.

"Ruby and Harry left with the Primarch."

"They did, huh." I said. I really didn't care for Ruby so I wasn't sure exactly how I was supposed to have been reacting. Serah sighed.

"And Snow was racing on motorcycles." Snow chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his bandana. "He could have gotten seriously hurt."

"Where on Gran Pulse did you get a motorcycle?" I asked perplexed.

"Gadot and Maqui made it. And I was only racing with them to cheer Rygdea up, since he was with Ruby."

"But you won!" Serah exclaimed.

"You know I get competitive, babe." Snow said.

"Um..." Terra got our attention, the rest of the class watching our moment. "I'm glad to see you're back, Lightning."

"Thanks Terra." I said.

"Well," Snow began, "we'll leave you to your class."

Serah frowned, disapointed. We left her to work.

**General POV**

Bartholomew had ushered Hope to the bathhouse as soon as he arrived. He had smelled of mud and dirt. When the silver haired teen arrived back at home, Bartholomew finally delivered his 'line' that he practiced the entire time he was waiting for Hope to be finished with his bath.

"I'm proud of you."

Hope looked up at his father wide eyed. "For what?"

"For...everything." He elaborated. "When you were in school...when you won the trophy in that choir...thing..."

This was not going as smoothly as Bartholomew had hoped, especially when Hope continued to look more bewildered and confused.

"Just...everything. You're my son...and I love you."

Hope blushed at the compliment. "I thought you were mad at me for running off like that."

Bartholomew sighed. "I've...I understand that...you're..." How exactly was he going to say this?

But smart Hope, took his dad's hand looked up into his eyes and said: "It's not your fault. Mom wouldn't want you blaming yourself eighter."

The silver haired teen was shocked to see tears well up in Bartholomew's eyes. "I'm sorry." Hope hugged his father, letting him know he wasn't mad eighter. "I'm so sorry."

Meanwhile Sazh watched as Dajh, Ainu, and Marlene playing happily with the chocobos. Tifa and Yuna worried that the kids were going to hurt themselves with wild animals, but Tidus assured them both that chocobos were friendly creatures.

Sazh didn't dare mention the tale of how he captured them.

Tifa was forced back home while Yuna was more stubborn and stood on standby. "You worry too much, Yuna." Sazh had told the mother.

"I'm not used to having wild animals as pets." She said. "Especially Gran Pulse ones."

"Have you like not been to Nautilus? There were chocobos everywhere."

"Trained Cocoonian Chocobos."

"You're no fun." Sazh muttered but Yuna heard and scoffed.

"Mommy!" Ainu called out to her. "Ride one! It's fun."

"You can ride the girl one." Marlene offered.

"No thank you- keep both hands!" Yuna gasped with Dajh let go of the black chocobo. "Goodness, Sazh, they're are being reckless!"

"Yuna's right, y'all. Keep both hands around their neck. Bottom down! Ainu! Don't stand on him!"

"Goddess Etro!" Yuna was paling when she saw her son perform his stunts. "Ainu! If you don't sit down, I'm taking you home! Don't make me get your father!"

Sazh tried to hide the grin from the worrying mother. Even though neighter children did a thing, Yuna was growing increasingly anxious. "That's enough! You can ride them again after Mr. Katzroy breaks them in. Sazh could you please get them down."

"But we don't wanna get off yet. We just got here!" Marlene whined.

"Now. Get them now, before they do something stupid like jump off!" Yuna fussed, face red now.

Sazh climbed in and called to the white one first. The white chocobo was more calm and actually help Marlene down herself. The yellow chocobo was about to run off and Yuna looked about ready to burst. But the black chocobo squawked at him and the yellow chocobo unwillingly let the boy down as well.

**AN: One more chapter before this arc ends.**


	13. The Jumbo Chocobo

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**General POV**

The next morning, Morrigan's sleep was interrupted by a knock on her door. She wasn't expecting anybody, in fact, she was sure she made it clear that she didn't want to be disturbed by any visitors. She felt her daughter inside her stomach kick, having woken up as well.

"You have my apologies, Urthemiel." Morrigan muttered. "I don't know what idiot dares disturb our slumber."

It was obviously in the late morning, but the mysterious pregnant woman was a night owl. She stays up all night and sleeps all day. Makes it much easiar to avoid people, since she hated people.

The person knocked again. "Who is it?" Morrigan barked, not even bothering to put her hoodie on, and answered the door in her black bra. She was surprised to find Yuna standing there, hand up about to knock again.

She dropped her arm. "Good morning, Morrigan." Yuna greeted. "May I come in?"

"No." Morrigan said.

Yuna licked her lips nervously. "I need to speak to you about something important." The brunette noticed her lack of clothes covering her torso, especially when Morrigan's swollen nipples poked through the fabric of her bra from the brisk cold. "Aren't you cold?" Yuna asked.

"Make haste Yuna, I wish to go back to rest." Morrigan pressed, slightly amused at Yuna's sudden nervousness.

"It's about your child." Yuna said. "When was the last time your baby had any prenatal care?"

Morrigan scoffed. "Yuna, the world ended almost two weeks ago."

"But you are in your thirty sixth week of pregnancy." Yuna said, wedging her way into Morrigan's hut and the pregnant woman was forced to close the door, since the brunette already was intruding. Yuna sat down on Morrigan's unmade bed. "The baby is coming, Morrigan. And you already had a complication last week when we were in the Mah'habara Subterra. You suffered broken ribs and I'm beginning to worry."

Morrigan rose an eyebrow. "Why are you worried?" She asked. "You and I are not friends. You hardly know me. You are a nurse, it's your job to fuss over the well beings of all of us. I hold my own. I have gone through this pregnancy by myself. No doctors, no helpers-"

"No doctors?" Yuna exclaimed. She stood to her feet. "You haven't been to the doctor since your pregnancy?"

"Goodness..." Morrigan scoffed, "Are you going to preach now?"

"I knew it!" Yuna continued, "I knew you've never went to see a doctor. We have to do a check up now!" When she reached for Morrigan's hand, the dark haired woman pulled away.

"Compose yourself, woman!" Morrigan snapped. "I am not going to die if I don't see a doctor."

"Every pregnant woman needs prenatal care, Morrigan!" And then Yuna stormed out of the hut, briskly. Morrigan had thought Yuna had finally left the woman alone, but five minutes later, Tidus and Bartholomew followed Yuna back into the hut.

"What is this intrusion!?" Morrigan exclaimed, pulling her hoodie over her head.

"Morrigan," Bartholomew began, "accept it or not, even though you are living in a hut, you are still in Oerba. You are one of us, and I refuse to leave you be, knowing you are not taking care of yourself."

"I do take care of myself." Morrigan argued. "I have everything under control. Just leave me be."

"Get her, Tidus." Yuna whispered. Tidus cringed and reached out for Morrigan's arm.

"Let go of me!" Morrigan spat and Bartholomew grabbed her other arm. "I refuse!"

"I'm sorry Morrigan," Yuna apologized. "I am only doing this because I care abou you."

The village watched as Morrigan was forcibly yanked out of her own house and dragged to Yuna's clinic. Alot of the people feared Morrigan's wrath, especially after Old Dalan's theories on the woman being a witch.

While that sounded like a far off tale, a handful of the survivors believed it. Morrigan was ominous. She kept to herself alot, and did alot of unexplainable things, like build a hut on her own in a short amount of time or how she managed to keep her soon to be born child for so long under scarce utilities.

Yuna shut the door behind her as Bartholomew and Tidus forced the angry pregnant woman into the clinic, her curses blocked out. Ainu began walking to Morrigan's hut and Marlene snuck away from a now busy Tifa to find out what Tidus and Yuna's nine year old son was up to.

"What are you doing?" Marlene whispered.

"Old Dalan said that woman was a witch. I'm gonna find proof!" Ainu told her.

"Wait! What if she finds out? Ainu!" Marlene didn't want her friend getting into trouble so she followed him into the hut.

They snuck in, making sure none of the adults noticed the children intruding into Morrigan's home. It was a small hut so it shouldn't take long for them to find something. "Look, Marlene. She has a cauldron, like in the stories."

"That's a cooking pot, Ainu." Marlene inhaled the bubbling concoction, "It's stew. Smells like vegeatables. And...some sort of meat."

"What kind of meat. Human flesh?"

"Ainu. If it was human flesh, we would have noticed. There's not many people here." Marlene may not have been impressed by the stew, but she did notice a giant worn book on the side table next to her bed. She walked over examining the page that it was already opened to. "Hey, Ainu. You actually might be on to something."

Ainu walked to where Marlene was. "What is this? I don't understand these letterings."

"It's in another language." Marlene figured out. The two were staring at a page with a picture of a pregnant woman. On the opposite page was a picture of what looked like a monster with wings, oozing black stuff. The creature was split in half and the baby inside the pregnant woman had lines coming out of it, to symbolise the baby was glowing.

Marlene turned the page and a drawing of a person was on the back of the dragon page, the symbol of the L'Cie in the center of it's chest. The kids didn't recognize the symbol though.

"I wish we could read what it says." Ainu said. Marlene flipped the page back, keeping her hand there so they wouldn't miss the spot and closed the book so she can see the cover.

It was a gray book, and on the front was the same L'Cie symbol. The red eye in the center wide open. Marlene felt something spark in the back of her mind. And for some reason she thought of the village on fire. She gasped pulling away and Ainu quickly opened the book back up before they lose the place. "What?" Ainu asked. "What's wrong Marlene?"

Marlene stared at him then shook his head, "Nothing...I'm just...creeped out by that book."

"Well, let's get out of here then. Recess should be over about now and we need to get back to class." Ainu took Marlene's hand and led her out of the hut.

Nobody noticed.

**Lightning's POV**

"Hey Sis." Snow greeted me as I walked past Lenora's Garage.

"Hi Snow." I greeted back. Maqui exited the store as well, waving in my direction and pushing the goggles on top of his head.

"Hey, Lightning, have you seen Gadot?" Maqui asked.

I shook my head, "Can't say I have."

"Yuna had come over here looking for him, but she got Bartholomew instead." Snow added.

"Have you tried looking for him?" I asked.

Snow just shrugged. "It's alright. Maqui and I got this."

"But isn't he in charge of weaponary?" I asked.

Snow shrugged again. "It can't be that hard."

"Snow, you don't even use a weapon." Maqui told his leader.

"Now that's not entirely true. I use a gun from time to time." Snow told him. The shorter blonde just stared up at him. "Not well, but you aren't a gun expert eighter, Maqui."

"Okay..." Maqui said awkwardly, he decided to change the subject, "Say, you need upgrades on your gunblade?"

I glanced down at it. "You think you can do that without screwing it up completely?" I asked.

"It won't take long, just come inside." Snow offered. I followed the two NORA members inside Lenora's Garage, pulling out my gunblade. I was skeptical about leaving my weapon in the hands of someone who was like a stranger to me.

But yet again, I trusted them to help build Hope's boomerblade, and it worked exceptionally well. Even better than his old one. Maqui took my weapon and laid it down on Gadot's workspace. He put the goggles over his eyes.

I watched closely to make sure Maqui didn't do anything to mess up my gunblade, and Snow patted me on my back to calm me down. I looked back outside and I can see Dajh walk past, school getting let out.

"Serah should be coming." I said.

"Actually, Serah gets bored sitting around the Garage. She usually hangs out at Lebreau and Tifa's place and chats with them. I call it 'girl time'. Though she should be stopping-" Serah entered the store and smiled when she saw Snow. "by." he finished.

"Snow." Serah sighed and Snow embraced her, and the two began to kiss, unaware of me standing right next to them. I turned away uncomfortably, and Maqui kept his eyes glued to my gunblade as he kept all his focus on it. He must get awkward seeing their display of affection as well.

He was done before Snow and Serah were. "Um, here's your gunblade." He said, handing me my weapon and not looking up or taking his goggles off.

"Thanks." I said. I figured I'd say my greetings to my little sister another time...or day. When Snow is not in the same room or I'll projectile vomit.

I only felt a little bad for leaving Maqui alone with the loving couple, even after seeing his lovely handiwork on my gunblade. I forgot about the scene in Lenora's Garage when I saw Dajh playing with the chocobos we brought him.

I decided to see the little boy. When he saw me coming he smiled big. "Hi, Lightning."

"Hi Dajh. How was school?" I asked considerately.

"Good. Your sister is a nice teacher." He said. I smiled at the compliment aimed at my sister. She was always better with kids than I was. That's why she would make a better moth-

Too soon.

"Where's your dad?" I asked, realizing I haven't seen Sazh all day.

Dajh looked at me slightly worried. "You mean he's not back yet?" he asked.

"Back from what?" I asked.

"Before I went to school, I told dad about the jumbo chocobo I saw the other day, before you went after that other chocobo."

"Other...chocobo?"

"So he said he was going to catch him while I was in school."

Anger flared in me. That idiot went **back there!** What is it with Sazh and catching chocobos! Did he not learn the last time? We already caught three of them by sheer luck and he's going after something called a 'jumbo chocobo'. What the actual **fuck**!?

"He went alone!" I exclaimed.

"He was going to bring Snow and you and Hope. But he said that Snow will be with Serah and that you and Hope wouldn't have gone with him. So he took Gadot."

My mind blanked. I could not believe he actually ran off into those wilds with _Gadot_ to catch a jumbo chocobo that may not exist. I wanted to scream in frustration. But instead I just walked away.

I was so angry that I hadn't even say hi to Serah when she finally exited Lenora's Garage. What was I going to do? We would have to go after him, again! I needed Bartholomew.

I ran to the village proper and the only people there was Amdoar and Rygdea. I had forgotten that Bartholomew was with Yuna. "Farron." Amodar greeted, having been in a middle of a card game with Rygdea. "You look pissed. I mean more pissed."

"It's not your time of the month is it?" Rygdea laughed and my superior laughed with him.

"No." I said through clenched teeth. "Sazh 'chocoboy' Katzroy went back to those wilds. With Gadot. And I need to bring his dumb ass back."

"He went back there?" Amodar asked. "You want me to go help you find him?"

"Hold on, I need to tell Bartholomew."

"Their not letting anyone in." Rygdea said. "You're on your own, Farron."

"Fine...Lieutenant?"

Amodar won his game and followed me.

**General POV**

Sazh and Gadot trailed down the woods in hopes of finding a jumbo chocobo. When Dajh had told Sazh, he was determined to get it for him. He had wanted to bring Snow, since he was a big dude and was really strong...but he knew that he wouldn't.

So he brought who he thought was the second strongest, his bestfriend, Gadot.

When Sazh had intervened him on his way to work early in the morning, Gadot was excited for an adventure. Having been bored with working at the garage while Snow gushed about his future wife. He needed a break.

Gadot didn't even care that he was second choice, just as long as he was given the chance now to leave the village. But Sazh had made it clear to not tell anyone, including his NORA buddies that he was leaving.

It was just gonna be them two. "So what does this 'jumbo chocobo' look like?" The tanned NORA member asked.

"Well, Dajh said he was big, hence the name 'jumbo chocobo'. And he makes a different sound than the other chocobos. It's lazier...he said it was like...'choco, choco, choco'."

"That actually sounds like it's name." Gadot commented. "Choco, choco, choco-"

"Nah, man, you're sayin' it too fast. I said 'lazier'. It's big right. It's so big it can't even sqwawk like a chocobo so it's just like...'hm...choco, choco, choco-' "

"Have you seen this chocobo, Sazh?" Gadot asked.

"No."

"Have you heard it?"

"No...but Dajh said-"

"Choco, choco, choco..." Gadot cotinued his own interpretation of a jumbo chocobo.

"I gotta say man," Sazh said after a while, "Thanks for coming out with me. I know we don't know each other well, but glad to see your willing to help out."

"It's no problem, man. We survivors gotta stick together. And beside...Snow had mentioned you. He said you were like the father he never had."

Sazh stopped walking when he heard this little insight. "He said that, for real?"

"Yeah. Snow and I were orphans. We grew up in the same home, and we always got into trouble. We never took adult authority seriously, since they were all pro Sanctum. So we never thought we needed parents. He said 'the way you care for Dajh is the way it should be done.' "

Sazh considered that for a moment. "Even though I have Dajh...I do consider Snow one of the kids. Hope too. Even Soldiergirl despite her being the most mature. But who knows. Maybe I treat everyone twenty years younger than me like kids."

Gadot laughed out loud, it echoed throughout the woods. "You sound like an old man."

"I ain't that old, son. In fact, I've been told I look pretty good for my age."

"By who? Bartholomew, Laguna, and Dalan?"

Sazh grunted...since Gadot was exactly right. But before Sazh could make a comeback, the trees above them started to shake suspicously. "Is that a chocobo?" Gadot asked.

But when the answer was a sound of a high croaky growl coming from above, Sazh drew his guns, Gadot following suit. "Ceratosaurs." Sazh informed the younger man.

"There are dinosaurs here!?" Gadot exclaimed.

"You got to kill 'em quick!" Sazh instructed, cocking his gun and shooting one of them down. "They come in groups. Their easy to kill but their attacks are strong!"

One of the ceratosaurs jumped down and attacked Gadot. A second one was able to knock the larger man down. Gadot tried punching them away, but the creatures were jumping all over his body. "Agh! Sazh help!"

"Hold still." Sazh aimed his gun, trying not to hit Gadot. But unfortunately, the gun grazed Gadot's arm, the man letting out a cry and Gadot shoved the ceratosaurs off of him. Sazh shot them down. "You alright?"

Gadot grabbed his arm, groaning. "Oh...yeah. I'll survive."

Sazh tried to summon up healing magic...but for some reason it wasn't coming out. "Damn. I forgot how to use healing magic."

Another ceratosaur jumped on Sazh's arm, and the older man kicked it away, reaching for his gun and blowing it's head off. Gadot shot another one down that was aiming for Sazh's back. The two men looked at the mess around him, then the flaming red head laughed.

"Now that was a challenge." He commented.

Sazh looked at Gadot's bare and muscular arm, streams of blood trickling down. Gadot followed his line of vision. "It's not as bad as it looks, old man." Gadot reassured. "I suffered worse on Bodhum believe it or not."

Sazh ignored him and fished into his pants pocket for a potion. He handed the blue liquid to the younger man and he accepted it gratefully, taking a careful swig. It was a weak brand though, and it only stopped the bleeding momentarily.

But if Gadot raised his arm he was probably going to retear that wound.

Sazh sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We have to go back."

Gadot scoffed. "What? Cause I got a scratch. I'm fine, Sazh. Really I am. It takes alot more than that to hurt me."

Sazh snorted half amused. "Watch your words. The creatures of Gran Pulse might take that as a challenge. You never saw the adamantoises."

"Eek. Giant turtles."

"Actually..." Sazh smiled at the memory of Lightning and Vanille's argument during their L'Cie adventures. "It's a giant tortoise."

"Same diff."

Meanwhile, Bartholomew was still locked inside the clinic as Yuna worked on Morrigan's check up in the other room. He and Tidus stood on standby in case Morrigan tried anything else funny. She tried escaping twice.

The first time Bartholomew and Tidus had to drag her back inside which earned Tidus six bite marks on his neck alone. She even cut skin and they had to quickly wrap his neck with a bandage before he bled out.

The second time Yuna was so sick of Morrigan that she showed sudden inhuman strength and managed to lock Morrigan's arms behind her back and drag her back all by herself. This slightly frightened Bartholomew but turned Tidus on.

When Bartholomew and Tidus reentered the room to make sure everything was going alright, they were surprised to see Morrigan tied to a hospital bed, her mouth duct taped shut. Yuna reverted back to her timid and meek self. "Hello." She greeted.

"Hi." Bartholomew and Tidus said at the same time.

Morrigan yelled, but the tape muffled her words. She wasn't moving much anymore, having ultimately given up on her escape.

"Now," Yuna tied her hair up into a low ponytail. "Let's check your blood presure." She put the strap around Morrigan's right bicep, having removed her hoodie and she was once again in her black bra. Yuna pressed on the pump watching the gauge. "Oh my, your blood pressure is high."

Morrigan rolled her eyes in depression. Of course it was high, she spent the past three hours trying to escape the clinic. Yuna leaned over, "Now, if I remove the duct tape from your mouth, will you behave yourself?"

Morrigan only narrowed her eyes unamused. But Yuna removed the tape anyway. "Now, how tall are you Morrigan?"

"Five foot seven." Morrigan answered monotonelessly.

"And how much did you way before your pregnancy?"

Morrigan glared up at the men who were still standing in the room. Yuna followed her gaze knowingly. "Oh." Tidus said pointing at him and Bartholomew. "You want us to leave. Of course. Come on."

The blonde swiftly left the room and Bartholomew followed closing the door behind him.

Morrigan sighed, "I was ninety one pounds."

"Wow! Really! That' so small!" Yuna gushed.

Morrigan really didn't have any muscle definition...or meat. In fact, despite her fesity nature she had a fairly weak body. This made the whole pregnancy and certain actions even more curious. How can a ninety one pound woman be able to support the size of her stomach?

"Okay Morrigan. During the complications we discovered that you had three broken ribs. We've told you to stay off your feet but you proceeded to, per usual, ignore everything we tell you and continue to force weight on your legs and even built a hut from scratch during your condition. Do you feel pain?"

"No."

"Particullarly in the...pelvic region."

Morrigan furrowed her eyebrows. "...no..." She said hesitently.

Yuna bit her lip, her forhead creasing in worry. "I don't believe you. I'm going to take your pants off now to examine you further."

"Lovely."

**Lightning's POV**

"Hey Farron. Shouldn't we stop by Lenora's Garage and get more weapons. There were these creatures in there when we..."

I sighed, then remembered that I didn't have to remain silent with Amodar anymore, since the GC is no more. "We can't delay any longer...sir." I finished pathetically. This could get some getting used to. "Sazh is running as we speak. Probably tumbled down another cliff. We need to get him out of there as soon as possible before something happens."

"Sazh went back!?" I heard Terra exclaim from behind me. I turned around and she and Hope stared back at me shock.

Crap. Hope heard. Now he's gonna want to come with us.

Amodar must have sensed my distress as he took the initiative. "Branford, you take Estheim's boy home. Leave this to the profressionals."

Terra was about to turn Hope around but he shook her away from him. "Wait-"

"**Nooo!**" I barked at Hope.

His eyes widened. "Why!? He's my friend too."

"Look, son." Amodar once again knelt down in front of the teenager, trying to get him to understand. "We're gonna need you to stay here for Dajh." He looked back at me. "Get going Farron, I'm right behind you."

I hesitated at first. Hope stared at me, clearly mad at my decision. Terra just looked down at him sympathetically, patting his head. I turned around, feeling his eyes on my back as I got going to go rescue Sazh and Gadot.

I heard Amodar following behind me.

**General POV**

Yuna's eyes twinkled as she listened closely to the baby's heartbeat. "Oh...I remember when I was pregnant with Ainu. It's amazing to hear your baby's heartbeat. Just the thought you created it. Morrigan do you want to hear your baby's heartbeat?"

Morrigan stared up not moving with an unamused expression on her face. "It sounds like any other heartbeat."

"Morrigan! How can you act so callously about the child that is blossoming inside you."

"Urthemiel is _growing_ not blossoming. She is not a flower. And I'm just going to say this now. If you say 'Come on Morrigan, open up your legs and let me see your flower garden' again, I will plant a tree in your 'flower garden'."

Yuna winced, dropping the heart rate monitor. "I'm going to take your blood and urine sample now." She grabbed a sterilized syringe and drew blood from Morrigan's bicep. "Now Morrigan, if I untie you for the urine sample will you not try to escape?"

"Not making any promises." Morrigan muttered.

Yuna untied the ropes and Morrigan...didn't move. The pregnant woman's face scrunched up in confusion. "What is this? Why can't I move?"

"I snuck a tranquilizer mix in your water." Yuna said nochalantly.

Morrigan decided then that Yuna's frail mother theresa act was just a fascade. In reality, she is a psycotic bitch. "And exactly how am I supposed urinate if I can't move my body."

"That's why you have me."

Meanwhile at Bartholomew's house, Terra was cooking for Dajh and Hope (who had retired to his room in anger). Terra decided not to bother the troubled teenager and tried to cheer Dajh up herself.

"Dajh, could you go get Hope and tell him dinner's ready." She said.

The happy child climbed out of his chair and entered the bedroom Hope and Bartholomew shared. To be honest Terra felt sort of bad for Hope. He was a good kid. And only wanted to help get Sazh back.

But she also understood why Lightning didn't want to bring him with her. Although Hope is useful, he's still a child. It's unhealthy for him to constantly be pulled out of the village.

Dajh returned to the kitchen without Hope. "Ms. Branford, Hope's not in there."

"What do you mean he's not in there?" Terra asked walking past Dajh and entering the bedroom.

As the six year old said, the room was empty. And the window open. "Oh crap!" Terra exclaimed when she realized Hope, who she was supposed to be taking care of, had snuck out the house.

Hope had escaped the house after a short moment of sulking. He was heading toward the exit when he saw his dad beginning to exit the clinic with Tidus. Not wanting to get caught and knowing Terra was going to go after him at any moment he ducked into the nearest house.

Tifa's. He ducked underneath the kitchen island, not wanting to be spotted by Tifa who was on the other side, drinking straight from a bottle of liquor. She swore under her breath turning around to get something. Hope took the oppurtunity to sprint to the other room.

Tifa turned around quickly, but Hope had already darted. Figuring it was the alcohol making her imagine things she plopped back down and continued to drink.

Hope let out a sigh of relief, his ear pressed against the door to make sure Tifa didn't notice. He turned around and he stared back at Laguna who was laying across his bed, notebook in hand.

"Hello?" Laguna said.

"Uh...hi." Hope replied awkwardly. He glanced at the window behind him. "May I please borrow your window?"

Laguna didn't say anything at first. "Sure. Since you asked nicely."

Hope hurried toward the window, opening up all the way. He can see the exit, and can go in without anyone else noticing. He turned back around. "Can you not tell anyone you saw me."

Laguna laughed, Hope winced hoping Tifa didn't think that was weird. Yet again it is Laguna. "I remember when I was your age. I snuck out of windows all the time. Don't worry, I won't tell a spirit."

"...soul..." Hope corrected. "You won't tell a soul."

"That too."

Hope nodded and quickly pushed himself through the opening. He landed on his feet and closed the window, making his way into the woods.

Terra ran into Bartholomew. "Ms. Branford, is Hope with you?" he asked her.

Terra winced.

"He snuck out." Dajh stated, not even bothering to sugarcoat it.

"What?" Bartholomew exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Mr. Estheim." Terra tried to reassure before Bartholomew chewed her out in front of the entire village. "He couldn't have gone too far. I'm going after him. Dajh stay with Mr. Estheim."

Terra snuck away from Bartholomew's angry gaze and hurried to the exit, drawing her sword.

Yuna had finally let Morrigan return home. The tranquilizer having finally worn off. "Come back tommorrow, okay Morrigan."

Morrigan scrunched her face up at Yuna's voice. "If I hear her super high sugary sweet voice one more time I am going to reach into her throat and-"

Bartholomew cleared his throat, and Morrigan noticed the six year old's prescence. "Is his father absent again?"

"He's going to catch the jumbo chocobo." Dajh told her.

"Your father believes he can catch a jumbo chocobo by himself?"

Bartholomew cleared his throat even louder.

Morrigan glanced up at the Council leader. "You really need to get that out. Would you like me to fetch the nurse? We are much closer now. Much...closer..." She trailed off.

"No, I am quite fine." Bartholomew answered awkwardly. "I need to return home. Come down, Dajh."

"Okay, Mr. Estheim." Dajh said following after him.

In the woods, Hope ran as fast as his small legs could carry him. His boomerblade drawn. Hope's breathing was heavy, and he realized this is the first time he has really went off on his own. Sure there was the time on Cocoon when Cloud made him head back to the airship on his own, but he would like to think that Viride counted as somebody.

But it seemed this moment of independance was not going to last when he heard a familiar Eidolon. "Crap!"

Vaelfor swooped in front of Hope, Terra on top with her sword drawn. "Hope! You gotta get back."

"I can't go back Terra." Hope argued. "Sazh needs me."

"Sazh...doesn't need you Hope. You just think he does." Terra climbed off her Eidolon and approached the sullen teenager. "I know you're worried, but venturing out in the wilds is only going to make things worse."

The teenager blew his breath, his bangs flopping. Then his eyes lit up. "Wait, your Eidolon. Can we ride your Eidolon and see."

Terra's eyes widened and she glanced back at her patient friend. "No. Hope you aren't listening. We can't-"

"Sure we can Terra. We can scope out the woods and find Sazh and Gadot. Also Lieutenant Amodar and Light."

"We can't cause..." Terra quickly unsummoned Valefor, the giant creature flying away. She laughed sheepishly, "It timed out. Took a while to find you. Heh heh."

Hope crossed his arms, obviously having seen Terra unsummoning. "Then I guess we'll find them on foot."

"Wha...wait...Hope!" Hope walked past the frustrated thirty four year old and sprinted forward, boomerblade raised. Terra groaned. "Wait!"

Meanwhile back in the village Bartholomew waited patiently for Terra to bring back his son while Dajh played with his newly aquired chocobos. "Have you thought of a name yet, Dajh?" The older Estheim asked, trying not to worry so much.

"I did." Dajh admitted, "but if daddy catches the jumbo chocobo."

Bartholomew sighed at the six year old. He is going to have a little chat with Sazh when he gets back from his second chocobo hunt. At least have him properly prepared for the trip, and maybe have them be once a week or something so they don't waste any resources.

But the Council leader figured they were on good terms with the Primarch, they were already on good terms with Cosmos, even though he never met her himself. And if the Chaos is gone, then that means they'll be able to fly to Cocoon from time to time.

**Lightning's POV**

"Hey Farron." Amodar began, "remember your first field mission?"

"The Vile Peaks." I answered. I remembered even though I tried to keep my stoic fascade up, I truly was excited to finally be out on the field after a year of hard studying. I was only sixteen years old, the youngest sergeant.

But on that first mission we lost a man to pulseworkers, stabbed straight through the heart. It was pretty tramatic, but I didn't let that affect my performance in battle. I think I even improved after realizing what NOT to do.

Actually I think more than one man died. Another got himself shot by one of our own men. And he was so terrified that he killed himself. That only left me with another female lieutenant. That man who killed himself was her boyfriend.

_"Farron, you alright?" Amodar had asked before I returned home._

_"I am fine, Lieutenant." I answered, saluting him._

_He crossed his arms, "I don't believe you. Most girls your age's minds would crack."_

_"I'm not like most girls. I am a soldier, sir."_

_Amodar just stared down at me. I kept my gaze straight ahead. He sighed, patting my shoulder, I resisted the urge to flinch. "At ease."_

"Can you tell me now?" Amodar asked. "Was that first mission...?"

I shook my head. "A job's a job. It was just one that got only less than half the crew out alive."

Amodar nodded. Even after all I went through, for some reason I never liked completely sharing my feelings. They were my feelings for a reason. Something only I can feel, can understand. If others figure it out themselves, then good for them, but if you ask me questions...no 'interrogate' me...than I will more than likely not give a wordy answer.

I'm not a wordy person.

"I knew there was something I liked about you, Farron." Amodar complimented. "You're humble."

I narrowed my eyes to the ground. Yeah..._that's it._ I didn't bother correcting him.

"How are things with your sister?" He asked suddenly.

I sighed. To be hoenst I was once again confused on where me and Serah stood. When we got to Oerba she seemed happy enough. But ever since the whole chocobo incident...oh. I made her worry again.

But I couldn't always be around. She's always with Snow. For twenty four hours a day, minus the time he spends at work. But Snow had mentioned that she spends her freetime waiting for Snow to get off work at Tifa and Lebreau's place or at home.

Was this a usual routine for her? Since I was never around. Sounds like something similar to her life in Bodhum. Comes home from school, I'm at work, Snow's at work, she spend some time with Lebreau or on the beach then comes home and cooks dinner.

It made me sad that I couldn't properly make her happy myself. Only Snow did that. If it gets like this now, then what will happen when they finally get married. And have kids...

Still too soon.

She's grown up. She doesn't need me anymore, she needs Snow. She needs a husband not a overprotective older sister.

"Farron? You alright?" Amodar asked when I hadn't answer.

"Things are fine." I lied. Even though I knew Amodar could always see through my lies.

"Doesn't sound like they are. What's wrong?"

My Lieutenant had always been my confidant, especially with Serah since he knew her the longest beside me. Knew her longer than Snow has. And he'll understand what's going on.

**General POV**

Sazh shot down a lobo that was about to sink it's teeth into Gadot's leg. He let out a tired breath. The two have been running all day. "I better be losin' some weight after this, damn." The older man groaned, sitting down against a tree.

Gadot looked like he was about the pass out. The arm that had been grazed had opened up even worse, and it seemed Gadot wasn't going to be concious much longer. "Hey, hey, hey!" Sazh called out to him to make sure he doesn't faint. "If you fall unconcious I'm not going to be able to carry your giant ass all the way back. Here." He handed him another potion.

"Thanks...man..." Gadot said, but he didn't reach out for the liquid. Sazh crawled over to the younger man, popping open the cork and slowly helped Gadot drink the substance. Gadot sighed, but the potion wasn't enough to do much. Just to hold him up a bit.

Sazh began to feel guilty for letting Gadot keep going after the injury. They were much too far away from the village. "Hey, Flamehead, I'm sorry, man."

Gadot looked up at him, his eyes cloudy. He shook his head. "It's not your fault. I wanted to keep going. Maybe...maybe Bart noticed us gone and sent Amodar or Lightning..."

Sazh cringed at the ass beating Lightning was going to inflict on his body. She won't even be able to beat Gadot up and Sazh will have to endure double damage. Was this a mistake? But Dajh really wanted the jumbo chocobo.

Yet again, he didn't say anything about getting it. He was just mentioning. It wasn't until Sazh promised he'd catch the jumbo chocobo for him that Dajh got excited. Now that he made the promise he had to follow through on it.

Sazh stood back up, and helped Gadot to his feet. The weakening man leaned heavily against Sazh without even meaning too, and the older man grunted at the weight. "Come on, Flamehead, we're takin' you back home."

Meanwhile back at the village, Lebreau had asked Serah if she could help prepare something in the kitchen. A little upset at first at being asked to leave her beloved, it wasn't until Snow gently encouraged her did she let Lebreau pull her away towards the bar/restaraunt.

Snow spotted Bartholomew and Dajh playing in the chocobo corral (Haha, no Bartholomew wasn't playing) and he had a feeling that the L'Cie were missing again. "Hey guys. Where's Sazh and Hope?" he asked trying to sound nochalant.

"My daddy's gonna go catch me a jumbo chocobo. Whoops I mean 'going to catch a jumbo chocobo _for me_'." Dajh corrected himself. Sazh had always taught his six year old son to speak proper english. It made you sound more educated.

Whenever Dajh slipped Sazh would just correct him and Dajh would correct himself. But now Dajh is starting to correct himself out of habit. Sazh would have been proud if he saw that.

"They went chocobo hunting again?" Snow asked, trying to mask his disappointment.

"Sazh did. And brought Gadot with him." Bartholomew informed. "Something about needing muscle."

Dajh nodded. "Yeah, he wanted to bring you...but he thought you'd say no."

"Ms. Farron and Lieutenant Amodar followed after them. Then my son disobeyed and went after them. Terra followed after to retrieve him."

Snow blew his breath, walking away from the corral. _Damn, that sounds like a lot of fun._ He thought, jealously. _Do they always do fun things when I'm not around?_

But then a new thought crossed Snow's mind. What if they were in trouble? He needs to do something instead of sitting around a garage all day. _But what about Serah_? She may not be busy for too long.

Snow peered through the window. Serah and Tifa had their back towards it, preparing something on the counter while Lebreau stirred a pot. The brunette NORA member saw Snow and he put a finger to his lips, gesturing her to come outside.

Lebreau raised an eyebrow and snuck away before Serah and a tipsy Tifa could notice. "What's up, Snow?" She whispered.

"I need you to keep Serah in there as long as possible." He instructed. "I'm going after Sazh. I know my girl isn't going to be happy but he's still my friend. And what she doesn't know can't hurt her."

"So you need like an hour or two?" Lebreau offered. Snow and Gadot are her bestfriends. She's do anything for them, even if they were too dumb to realize this.

"Or two and a half?" Snow asked. "Just until I get back."

"Leave it to me." Lebreau promised. "But just hurry back as fast as you can. No dilly dallying!"

Snow bounded off toward Lenora's Garage. Lebreau walked back inside just as Serah finished prepping the food. "Well," Serah said, about to untie her pink frilly apron, "I should be getting back home to Snow-"

"Uh, Serah can I talk to you?" Lebreau asked. Serah moaned a bit, really wanting to come home after a long day's work. She let Lebreau lead her towards one of the table's particularly out of Tifa's earshot. "Is it alright if you stay a little longer?"

"A little longer?" Serah whined. "Why?"

"Because...see how Tifa's kinda drunk?" She pointed toward Tifa who was grumbling to herself, rearranging liquor bottles for the third time.

"Yes?"

"She's depressed over the 'divorce' with Cloud. She drinks during work saying she's 'sampling' the alcohol." Lebreau wasn't lying.

Serah gasped. "Oh. Poor Tifa."

"So I thought maybe after we get finished cooking, maybe we can crack open a bottle and let Tifa get some things off her chest."

"You want to make her more drunk?" Serah asked confusedly.

"...Yes." Lebreau answered bluntly.

Serah played with the hem of her skirt "I don't know. Snow is probably waiting for me at home."

"Oh, I'm sure he's fine. Trust me. I know him better than anybody else on NORA."

Serah's eyes widened at Lebreau's statement. "I...I don't drink. Not usually. Not unless it's a special occassion. I mean my mom drank, my dad drank, my sister drinks-"

"Please, Serah." Lebreau begged. "For Tifa."

Serah was then pulled away by Lebreau.

Snow made it to Lenora's Garage where Maqui was fixing up the motorcycles. "Hey, Maqui."

"Oh, Snow, hi." Maqui greeted awkwardly. "What are you doing back here?"

"I need the motorcycles. And some chocobo hunting equipment. And have you seen Rygdea?" Snow mounted one of the motorcycles.

"Uh, wait, hold on, let me get your equipment." Maqui scurried into the store and grabbed the stuff that Snow needed. He rushed back to the garage where Snow was anxiously waiting for the equipment. "Snow, what are you doing? I thought Serah said you couldn't ride these anymore?"

"I'm going to save my friends. Get on the other one so we can pick Rygdea up."

"Uh...okay." Maqui hesitently climbed onto the second motorcycle and sped off toward Rygdea's airship. The Calvary Captain was sleeping inside the cockpit, reading an actual book and not porn this time.

He had gotten over his depression of Ruby and Harry leaving, but he still hasn't been very productive. He just goes to the Council meetings. If nobody asks him of anything, he just hangs out in his airship. He had borrowed some books from Terra and Squall to keep himself occupied.

Snow banged on the metal door. "Rygdea, it's me. Open up."

Rygdea snored, sitting up, the book falling from his face to his lap. He cleared his trash which consisted of chip wrappers and bent beer cans. He opened the door surprised to see Snow standing there. "What's up?" Rygdea asked, blinking at the sunlight.

"Come on, we gotta go get Sazh and my boy Gadot out of the woods." Snow banged on the door again, making Rygdea wince at the loud noise. He mounted the motorcycle Maqui was previously riding and the two sped off toward the woods.

Everyone except Serah and Tifa noticed.

Tifa took another swig of the bottle, as she leaned heavily over the counter, her boobs smushing on the surface. "Cloud needs to stop running all the time. It's like, you made a mistake...things happen," she hiccuped, "but acting like a scared puppy isn't gonna change things. It's like he's a zombie."

Lebreau nodded, only half listening taking a drink. Serah took a dainty sip, face scrunched up at the alcohol. She was hoping that Snow doesn't worry about her being gone for this long.

**Lightning's POV**

We heard a gunshot up ahead, only one person would be having a gun on him. "He's up ahead!" I informed my Lieutenant.

A wyvern screamed from in front of us, flying passed without us even knowing. The power of the winds managed to spin Amodar and I multiple times, making everything dizzy and my head swimmy.

Amodar shot his weapon but I could tell he was missing the flying creature by a long run. When my focus returned the wyvern swooped in mouth agape as it attempted to bite my face off. I leaned back, dodging the creature barely.

It went for Amodar, and he blocked the creature with his giant weapon, forcing Amodar to one knee. I shot at the creature, but my bullet wasn't enough to kill the bird. It screamed in anger and pain and I switched my gunblade to blade mode and slashed at it.

It flew up making me miss. I jumped and managed to slash at one of his wings. It screamed slamming the other wing down on me, knocking me to the ground. "Die!" Amodar screamed shooting at it.

The wyvern danced around teasingly, and I jumped back to my feet, ignoring my disorientation. I jumpd up performing a blitz. It sliced that same wing that hurt me previously and it attempted to grab me up.

I tried squirming away from the creature as it opened it's mouth to eat me when I heard Terra's battle scream. She stabbed her sword through the opposite wing, making the wyvern let me go. Hope appeared by my side sending Amodar and I healing magic.

Terra danced around the creature confusing it and Amodar finally got the roulette going. Twelve bullet holes appeared on the wyvern, before it fell limp...dead.

Terra looked down at me, and I glanced at Hope, shoving him away from me. "Goddamn!" I swore. "What the **fuck** did I tell you! Don't follow me! How the hell did he follow me?"

"He snuck out the house." Terra informed me.

Hope looked down, ashamed of his actions. At least that's what I hoped. Now I'm not going to hear the end of it from Bartholomew. "Just what were you thinking, boy?" Amodar lectured.

"Sazh is my friend too!" Hope said. "I needed to help him."

"What you need to do is know your place!" I argued. "You're just a kid. L'Cie or not!"

I regretted my words as soon as they left my lips. But it was the truth. Even though Hope was forced to grow up much too fast, he was still just a child. He needed to learn that if someone tells you where your needed, then that's where your needed.

Just when I thought I couldn't feel anymore guilty...Hope dropped his head and I heard him sniffle. He was crying! I glanced at Terra not knowing what to do. She just stared back at me just as stunned as I was.

Crap, I hadn't met to make Hope cry. I didn't want him to cry. I was just trying to get him to understand that I was only trying to protect him. "Hey..." I coaxed feeling Amodar's eyes on me, watching me. I am never going to hear the end of it. "You're not really crying are you?"

"No..." He said, rubbing at his eye.

Damn...I suddenly feel bad for yelling at him. Usually I wouldn't care. He wasn't listening...

...but maybe he is really worried about Sazh. We hadn't heard from Gadot or Sazh. I groaned. "Hope...please stop crying. Hey..." I put my hands on his shoulders and he looked up at me.

Good he wasn't seriously crying. He was just on the brink. He was pouting though. "I'm sorry...okay. Just...promise me you'll listen to me next time. Okay?"

He nodded. I poked his forhead, making him shyly giggle.

The sound of another gunshot resounded through the woods. "Sounds like Katzroy." Amodar informed us.

"Let's hurry and catch them!" Terra said, and the four of us went onward.

**General POV**

Sazh holstered his gun again, as he half dragged half carried Gadot through the woods. A baby wyvern had attacked the pair and it was up to Sazh to protect his charge. "Hey, Sazh..." Gadot mumbled.

"What is it, Big Guy?" Sazh asked, keeping a look out for more wyverns.

"Thanks..." He mumbled. "I knew you'd be there for me."

"I'm here for you, Gadot. No matter what's thrown in our way."

"Katzroy!" Sazh's eyes widened when he suddenly saw Lightning sprinting towards him like a track star.

"Shit!" Sazh exclaimed, dropping Gadot on the ground and running in the opposite direction.

"Ow." Gadot grunted.

Lightning ran and jumped over Gadot, not even giving him the light of day. Hope and Amodar did stop to help Gadot, and Terra too ran past to make sure Lightning doesn't inflict bodily harm on the father.

The scene was a like a scene on an animal show, where the lion chases after her prey. Sazh ran, spit flying out of his mouth at his severe breathing while Lightning resembled a hungry lioness, fire flaring in her eyes. While Terra would most likely resemble a gazelle. She was able to keep up with Lightning.

Lightning was bounding towards Sazh, then she went for the leap. She tackled Sazh onto the ground, mounting on his back. "OW! My back. Ooh! You threw out my back, girl."

"Shut up!" Lightning managed to flip Sazh so he was facing up at her and straddled his sides. She punched him in the face. "What the hell were you thinking going out here alone!"

"Jumbo chocobo!" Sazh answered, blocking his face from another hit.

Terra yanked Lightning off the older man, just as the rest of the boys including Gadot caught up.

**Lightning's POV**

Hope helped Sazh to his feet while Terra held me back like some wild animal. "Lightning. That's enough Lightning." Terra ordered me, letting go of my arms.

"At ease, Farron." The Lieutenant told me. "Now Sazh, can you tell me why you ran off."

"I went to catch a jumbo chocobo." he informed me.

"What's a jumbo chocobo?" Terra asked.

"It's big, and round..." As Sazh was explaining the way it looked, we all saw a large shadow rise over Sazh. It was big...round...had yellow feathers.

"Damn..." Gadot exclaimed, backing into Hope.

Sazh stared at us all perplex then turned around, looking straight up at what I assumed was the jumbo chocobo. "Sweet Mercy!"

"_**Choco, choco, choco, Cho. Co. Bo.**_" It sang.

We also then heard the sound of two motorcycles behind us. "Hey..." Gadot said, "That sounds like..."

Snow and Rygdea arrived carrying a large fish net. "Your hero has arrived!" Snow cheered, throwing the net over the giant bird.

"That's a big chocobo." Rygdea stated the obvious.

"Snow!" Hope exclaimed happily. "How did you find us?"

"I heard Sazh's gunshots once I got in." Snow told us. "Sounded like you guys were having alot of fun and I wanted to join in! I..." he glanced down, "I missed you guys."

"Boss!" Gadot cried throwing himself over his bestfriend. "I am so happy to hear you say that." he then pulled back. "Sorry, that was kind of gay."

Snow snorted but hugged him back.

"Can we ride this chocobo?" Terra asked, staring up at it.

The chocobo laughed...right, it laughed and bent over so we can climb on. "All aboard." Rygdea said, turning his motorcycle. The rest of us loaded on and followed Snow and Rygdea out of the wild.

We got back to the village, Snow and Rygdea having disappeared, probably to hide the motorcycles. Dajh saw us coming in, and the look on the six year old's face was priceless. He looked surprised and almost beyond belief at the chocobo.

Bartholomew looked like he paled when he saw the chocobo, and the whole village gathered around us. Serah came out of Lebreau and Tifa's place, looking like she might faint, and Snow appeared like he had never left the village by her side.

"What is this?" Vera exclaimed, terrified.

"The jumbo chocobo!" Dajh exclaimed as we all clambered off the giant creature. Yuj looked down at the materials in his hand.

"I hope I have enough, Dajh."

"You made clothes for your chocobos, Dajh?" Sazh asked his son, picking him up.

"Yup."

"Let's take this big guy to the chocobo corral." Maqui said leading the giant bird with the rest of the flock.

"So, Dajh, what did you name them?" Sazh asked.

Dajh took a green bow tie from Yuj and walked up to the black chocobo. "This is Chocosazh."

"Cause he black." Gadot muttered to Sazh, making the dark skinned man laugh aloud.

"You named a chocobo after me, son?" Sazh asked as Dajh placed the bowtie on the black chocobo.

The little six year old nodded. Yuj handed him a red tie, Dajh approached the yellow chocobo. "This is Chocolight."

Everybody chuckled. I was surprised that Dajh decided to name one of the chocobos after me. I didn't think he really cared about my prescence.

"I named him after you because he's fast as lightning." The child informed me.

"Aw," Terra said, "that's cute."

Dajh placed a yellow bow on the top of the white one's head. "This is Chocohope."

Yuj snickered at Hope's blush. "You named the girl one after me?" The silver haired teen asked.

"Only because she had white hair like yours." Dajh tried to reassure Hope.

"Thank you. I'm honered." he said honestly.

"And last but not least, Chocosnow." Snow helped the six year old onto his shoulders so he can place the blue durag on the top of it's head.

"Choco, choco, choco." The jumbo chocobo, or 'Chocosnow' chanted.

"Aw, that' sweet." Serah cooed.

Later that night, I had asked Yuj to give me a haircut, since my hair was beginning to grow out and split at the ends. With all the fighting I do it would be difficult to take proper care of my hair, so Amodar has suggested keeping it short like how I did when I was much younger.

"You sure you want to do this Lightning?" Yuj asked as he covered the front of my body with a sheet.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Okay...if you say so. I'm just saying you have rather pretty hair. You and your sister." I felt a comb through my hair and before he put scissors to it, Hope entered Yuj's Outfitters.

"There you are." Hope said. "I was looking for you. What are you doing?"

"She's gettin' a haircut." Yuj informed the younger teenager.

"Why?" Hope asked me.

I felt annoyed again. Why is everyone so bothered with the choices I make. If I want to cut my hair to a more convenient length, can I do so without everyone crying on how beautiful it is. There's not much of my hair to begin with, it's rather thin. It's not like you can see it's length. Especially when I tie it up.

"I felt like it." I answered. "Now what were you looking for me for?"

"It's about our training. Can we do it tommorrow since we haven't done it lately." he asked. "I really want to learn how to fight like you do. So I wouldn't be completely useless."

"What are you talking about Hope?" It was Yuj who said this. "You're not useless, you're a healer. We all need healers."

"Yeah, but I want to be valuable in battle."

"That is valuable, Hope. Without you, your friends including your dear Light here," I heard a snip. "they'd be dead."

"Yeah..." I replied, Yuj pretty much said everything I needed to say for me. "I'll train you tommorrow. But you are not useless."

Hope blushed looking down at his shoes. "Thanks. I'm gonna go home now. Feed my dog." The silver haired teen turn on his heel, and as soon as the door shut behind.

"Ooh," Yuj gushed, "Your boy is so cute. He's like a puppy wanting approval from his master."

"That is one interesting analogy." I commented. Snip. "How long is this going to take?"

"Not long." Yuj informed me, "so don't worry I'm only going to tease you about Hope for a short while."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Why does everyone tease my about him anyway? Can I train him without everyone thinking there's something between us. He's fourteen for crying out loud!

"Anyways," Yuj continued, "all done."

"Really?"

Yuj held up a mirror and I took it, evaluating his work. It really wasn't bad at all. It was only cut above my shoulders. "Thank you. It looks fine." I informed him.

"You mean it looks great." He corrected. "I do great work."

When I finally got home and went to sleep in the room I shared with Cloud, I had a nightmare. It was hard to make out exactly what was happening, but I saw images of what looked like an Eidolon getting his head decapitated, then I saw a figure crying out with chaos surounding it's body.

Then I saw Fang and Vanille staring at me, inbetween them was a mirror. Instead of my normal self, my skin was a grayish blue. I felt my arm...the sound of two stones rubbing together hurting my ears. My eyes were gold, the whites now black. And I was balding.

This was the same image I saw when I was in Eden. The mirror broke and Fang and Vanille disappeared as I saw Odin galloping toward me. I opened my eyes.

Cloud hovered over me. "Lightning?" he asked in a worried tone I never heard before.

I was about to reassure him it was only a dream, but suddenly my chest stung from the inside out. I pulled down my turtleneck...and my returning brand glowed a reddish and purplish pink.


	14. Oerba Under Siege

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warnings: Implied nudity, Graphic Violence**

**General POV**

Snow's eyes snapped opened. He just had a nightmare. The large man let out a sigh of relief when he realized this and looked down at his beautiful sleeping wife, curled up to his chest, sound asleep. But then he felt a sharp pain in his right arm, more particularly in his wrist.

He stifled a groan of pain and raised his arm up. "No..." He whispered when he saw the familiar shape of a L'Cie brand glowing blue. He jumped out of bed, careful not to wake Serah and not caring that he was naked at the moment rushed into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him and studied his returning brand.

It was over...much too soon. And the dream wasn't just any other dream. It was their Focus. "But what does it mean?" Snow asked himself whispering. The glowing stopped and he now saw the fizzled out white brand. He blew his breath and reentered the bedroom.

He quickly threw on boxers and instead of sleeping shirtless like he usually does he dug out a long sleeve blue shirt. He crawled back into the bed with his wife, who curled right back onto him. Even in the dark, he saw that she was just waking up. "Oh...were you cold, Snow?" She whispered, eyes half lidded as she was falling back asleep.

"Uh yeah. Chilly." Snow tried to cover.

"I would get dressed too..." Serah trailed off, stretching and letting the blankets uncover her nude body. "But I have you to warm me up." She kissed Snow then fell back asleep on his chest. Snow just stared straight up at the ceiling, at a loss of what to do.

**Lightning's POV**

I held up Hope's arm to examine his returning brand. We woke up at about the same time and he had come into my room to see if mine returned. Cloud watched quietly from his bed.

"That dream." Hope said, "What do you think it means?" He asked me.

He obviously had the same one as I did, "Did you see yourself in the mirror?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah...it was...unnerving. It was like...a cieth version of me."

That's what it was! A cieth version of us. But wait? Cieths are all generic no matter who it is. But why did those cieth in our dream look distinctly like us?

"We need to get Snow and Sazh." Hope said, getting up from my bed.

"Forget Snow." I told him. "I don't want to frighten my sister. Hopefully the idiot doeesn't tell her."

"I doubt he will." Cloud said. He let out a sigh.

I knew that Cloud was one of the people against the L'Cie and blamed us for the fall. "You're not going to tell anyone are you, Cloud?" I asked.

He shook his head. "But you better figure out something soon."

"We aren't going to become cieth." Hope argued, "Our brands stopped progressing."

"Than how come you were cieth in that 'dream'." Cloud put quotation marks around the words "Dream".

"We better go see Sazh, now." Hope said, ignoring Cloud. I looked back at the blonde, who appeared unamused of the situtation (and probably the fact I was the one who woke him up because of it), and exited the house.

I was surprised Bartholomew hadn't woken up. I'm sure if my red violet glow was enough to distub Cloud, then Hope's golden light glow who have disturbed his father as well. I didn't have time to ponder when I caught the orange firey glow from Sazh's house.

Hope and I raced over not even bothering to knock on the door before entering. When we went into Sazh and Dajh's room, the six year old was hovering over his father worriedly. "I think my daddy is having a heart attack!" He exclaimed in worry.

Hope calmed the boy down by picking him up off of Sazh. "No, Dajh, he's not having a heart attack."

Sazh inhaled sharply, eyes wide and he sat up. He then looked at Hope and I. "What are you kids doin' in my room?"

"Sazh," I tried to explain, "Your brand is back."

"What are you ta-" He then looked down at his t-shirt, where the little bit of the white brand was fizzled out. "Son of a..."

"You're still a Cie daddy?" Dajh asked, still in Hope's arms.

Sazh was at a loss of words. How could he explain to a six year old this?

The night (or early morning) was interupted when the sound of an airship outside arrived. It sounded like...

"Is that the Primarch?" Sazh asked.

"Why would he be back?" I asked. Me and Hope left while Sazh quickly got himself and his son dressed. Everybody was coming out of their homes upon Primarch Vayne Solidor's arrival.

"What are you doing back here?" Bartholomew asked. He glanced at Hope and I, having noticed his son was missing from his room, but he surprisingly didn't look angry by this.

"There is...trouble back in Cocoon." The Primarch explained. "Chaos is trying to return."

"How do you know this?" Maqui asked.

The Primarch called forth one of his men, a squirrley short man with glasses carrying some sort of weird gizmo. "This is a Chaos Finder. Very practical name for what it is used for. You see that blue squiggly line there." He held the device so certain people can see it. "That means your village is void of chaos. Now where is my Ser Joxe?"

Ser Joxe approached the Primarch. "I am here, Your Emmincence." He said with a deep bow.

"I had left my right hand man here to investigate. To see if the chaos has fled here."

"I assure you, Your Emminence." Bartholomew said, "we have not encountered any sort of 'chaos'. Right?"

The village let out murmurs of agreement.

"Unfortunately," Ser Joxe began, "I did pick up...something interesting. Follow me, Your Emminence."

Ser Joxe headed the opposite way toward where the exit of the village was, the same area we caught chocobos in. Ser Joxe took the 'Chaos Finder' from the Primarch and held it up. There was rapid squiggly purple lines.

"What does that color mean?" Hope asked.

"Blue," The Primarch started explaining, "represents lack of chaos. That's good. It then starts to turn purple when you get closer to chaos...than red...when you encounter it."

"The chaos is this close to our village?" Bartholomew asked worriedly.

"Correct. In fact, it may have even passed through...searching..."

"Searching for what?" Terra asked, pulling the floral jacket closer around her body.

"I don't know. But whatever it was searching for wasn't in your village."

"So we're safe?" Gadot asked.

The Primarch flipped his hair out of his face and stared down at the dark skinned man. "No."

"Alright then..." Gadot replied awkwardly.

"The thing this 'Chaos' seeks may not have been in the village at the time...but it may be now..."

For some reason, most of the villagers glanced at the chocobos in their corral, watching the Primarch curiously. "My chocobos!?" Dajh exclaimed. "The chaos isn't after my chocobos is it?"

"It could be anything. The chocobos may just be a lure."

"Do you even hear yourself?" Sazh snapped when the Primarch's words upsetted his son.

"How dare you speak His Emminence that way!" Ser Joxe barked.

"Come on, man, you're saying that an evil darkness is after chocobos. Or using them."

"If the chaos is in those woods." Bartholomew began, "then I shall send some of my men to seek it out."

"That sounds dangerous!" Tifa snapped. "That's a stupid idea!"

"Well we can't wait around for this 'chaos' to attack our home, can we?" Bartholomew argued back. The dark haired fighter bit her lip and crossed her arms.

"I also would like some help from a GC." The Primarch asked. "Chaos does not work in one area. He is sending an army to infiltrate Cocoon while also doing it's work in Gran Pulse. We need a battle expert."

"That's Lieutenant Amodar." Squall volunteered our superior.

My Lieutenant nodded, having agreed to help. Rygdea raised his hand, "I'll fly him and some of our PSICOM to where you are."

"Perfect. We leave right away." The Primarch said heading back to the airship. "Ser Joxe shall be staying with you. I left him his own 'Chaos Finder'. He will let your party leader use it."

The Primarch reentereed his airship wth all his men, minus Ser Joxe. Rygdea and Amodar along with all the PSICOM soldiers loaded up in Rygdea's airship and followed the Primarch.

Most of the village dispersed back into their homes, or to work, the sun was beginning to creep up so there was no more time to sleep. Laguna was speaking to Ser Joxe. "So yeah, I would like totally go with them." Laguna tried saying, "but I just got this robot leg and I'm still trying to get used to walking on it let alone fighting."

"You say you're weapon is a gun." Ser Joxe said. "We have a man or two who are incapable of walking altogether. They are our best shooters."

"Well, yeah, I guess there's that. I'm a pretty good shooter- uh hey Light!" He waved me over hoping I would spring him out of trouble. "So are you going to lead your fellow L'Cie and men into the deeps of Gran Pulse once more."

"The depths...Laguna." I corrected. "And I am actually pretty sick of those wilds. Chocobo hunting and whatnot. I'm sure I'm needed here. Perhaps spend some time with my sister."

"Right of course." Laguna said.

"You are a L'Cie?" Ser Joxe asked.

My blood ran cold at the slight reminder that is hidden in my turtleneck. "She was." Laguna corrected. "She's one of the folks that saved Cocoon."

"I see..." Ser Joxe stared at me. "Your sister is Serah Farron. The one who is...engaged to that rebel."

The way he spoke about my sister was similar to how a man discusses food. It ticked me off. "Yes. I am her older sister."

"You and her are very beautiful." He complimented, and I felt the urge to run. I then felt someone tug on my pant leg and was surprised to see Dajh.

"Oh right, I was supposed to look after Dajh while his dad was in a meeting with Bartholomew." Laguna whistled, "I bet after the primarch's prescence they have alot to discuss."

I can only imagine. "Can I play with you?" Dajh asked. "Laguna's not too fun."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Laguna tried to defend himself. "I am totally fun. You just got here. Hold your chocobos. I was just conversing with my new friend, Joxe here."

"It is _Ser_ Joxe, and we are not friends."

"See, he's funny. Such a funny guy." Laguna laughed stupidly and Dajh winced, pushing himself closer to me. "But if you really want to go with Light?"

"I have things to do." I made my hasty escape. "Sorry Dajh."

The little six year old pouted but then started laughing when Laguna suddenly began tickling him.

I almost ran into Squall. "There you are." He said. "I was wondering where you were."

That surprised me. "Why did you need me for something?" I asked.

"You don't hear the yelling?"

I then heard yelling coming from Terra's house. It sounded like Terra's voice...and she was pissed. I never thought she'd sound angry. "What's going on over there?" I asked heading in that direction. If Terra was yelling like that it can't be good.

"She, Vaan, and Reks found a family of ferrets nesting behind the refrigerator." He informed me.

I stopped in my tracks. "The fuck?"

"Yeah. Snow had wanted to come over, Serah with him and while they were talking outside Snow heard noises coming from the kitchen. He's been trying to get them out but of course...Terra was screaming at him to not do that because she didn't want the ferrets to get into something else."

"The fridge though? It's not like it works."

"No it does. Maqui fixed it for here as soon as she moved in."

"Maqui gets around..." I muttered.

Outside of Terra's house, Vaan and Reks were cowering outside with Serah and Vera (nobody knew why the hell she was there) and Terra was screaming at Snow from the doorway. "Get out of there!" She yelled. "Reks do something."

"Uh-huh." The PSICOM soldier said. "I ain't goin' in there."

"You big baby." Terra muttered.

"You're the man!" Vera screamed. "You're supposed to both be in there helping Snow."

"They are ferrets!" Vaan argued. "Ugly sons of bitches."

"Language, Vaan." Terra warned. "There are ladies present."

"Claire." Serah cried, shaking.

"Oh good, Lightning." Terra said. "I was waiting for you. You're intimidating, can you get Snow out of the freakin' kitchen!"

"If you go in with me." I said. "Are you scared Terra."

"No!" She barked. "I'm just...uh...was just waiting for you."

"It's okay if you are." Serah reassured. "We're scared too."

"Not okay for them." Vera corrected, pointing at the frightened brother.

Squall grabbed both the brothers by the shoulders and forced them into the house. "Are you two coming in too?" I asked my sister and the blonde who had absolutely no business being here.

They shook their heads and I closed the door. Terra, Vaan, and Reks stayed on the other side of the kitchen, in case they had to bolt. "Hey, Snow." Squall called out to him, standing behind him. "You sure that's a good idea?"

Snow sat back up. "What...you want me to leave wild and rabid animals in their fridge. They eat out of there. Ah!"

Vaan and Reks screamed and hugged each other.

"What!" Terra cried.

"Something went up my pant leg." Snow gasped, and sure enough something was squirming it's way up Snow's pants.

"Oh my god!" Vaan cried and he stood on one of the couches with his brother.

Terra backed herself into me. Squall kicked Snow's leg and a loud screech joined by Snow's holler made us all jump. About five other ferrets scampered out of the hole. Vaan and Reks continued their girly screaming while Terra began swinging her sword stabbing one. "Ew...I'm gonna be sick."

One tried to crawl up my leg and I kicked it toward Squall. Squall let out a rather unusual scream/gasp and tossed it towards Terra. She squealed and threw it to Vaan and Reks. "Wah! Get it away! Get it away!" Reks exclaimed trying to jump into his younger brothers arms and the Vaan let out a girly scream as he kicked the ferret out the window.

Uh oh. I heard Vera scream, and she danced past the window clawing at her blonde hair where the ferret was not letting go. All the ferrets scampered out the open window just as Vera threw the ferret out. She jumped onto the bench, white in the face and violently trembling.

We ran outside ad most of the village erupted when the ferrets scampered toward the village exit. They were gone at least. "Where's Serah?" I asked Vera who's hair was a hot mess.

"I'm over here." Serah whimpered, coming out from behind the house. "that was so scary and gross!" She cried.

"It's okay, babe." Snow calmed down, holding his future wife in his arms and patting her hair down. "They're gone."

Vaan and Reks laughed when they saw Vera's nest of a hair. Squall and I just smirked at her. Vera scoffed and marched off towards Yuj's Outfitter's to probably have Yuj take care of it for her.

"Well, Snow," Terra began. "Thanks again for getting those things out. Even though I wished you did it more proffressionally, they are gone. How about I treat you to some dinner as a reward."

"Hey, that sounds li-" Snow was about to agree but I noticed Serah clear her throat. The large man looked down at my little sister. "Oh, actually I promised my girl I was taking her out tonight."

He smiled down at her and Serah smiled back hugging her soon to be husband.

Vaan snorted, "Where? Across the street?" He and Reks laughed once more and Terra smacked them both upside the head. "Ow!"

"Terra!"

"Anyways," Terra continued, "I have to start dinner. Get inside boys. You're helping."

She waved at us before entering her house, Vaan and Reks following her in, shoving each other back and forth.

"I think I'm gonna go eat." Squall informed us, he waved to us quickly before making his way toward Tifa and Lebreau's bar/restaraunt.

"Snow, what were you thinking?" Serah scolded the larger man.

"Well when we were walking by and I heard screaming, I thought I should help out." Snow explained himself.

"Well what's done is done." I quickly ended the scolding my little sister was about to give. For some reason Serah seemed edgy. Anxious about something. "Serah, are you alright?"

She dropped her head against her future husband's chest, "I haven't been feeling too well to be honest. Dizzy and kind of nauseous. I'm waiting to throw up."

Snow pulled her back to look at her. "If you are nauseous then maybe we shouldn't go out to eat?"

"No. We can still go. I just won't eat anything is all."

"You sure?" I pressed. "Maybe you should have Yuna look at you."

"She's not in her clinic right now." Snow told me. "Tidus is going into the woods to find the chaos. She's helping him get ready."

"Tidus is going?" I asked. I was surprised, Tidus didn't seem like a get up and explore kind of guy. He seemed more faithful to his wife and stays to support her. But from the way Snow says it I don't think Yuna really minds him leaving if she's helping him.

We then ran into Tifa. "Hey, Tifa." Snow greeted. "What's for lunch?"

"Hello, Snow." Tifa greeted him. "I'm not going to be cooking tonight, Lebreau is. I have things I have to do."

I noticed that Tifa was talking to someone. A tall man at six feet with curly blonde wearing far too nice clothes for just any ordinary survivor and he was grinning at Serah and I. "My, aren't you a beauty." He complimented Serah.

My little sister blushed. Snow laughed. "Careful. We're gettin' married. Right, babe?"

Serah couldn't answer, too dazzled by the man's prescence. It reminded me of when she was little. Tifa introduced him with a flirty smile of her own. "This is Farin. His family was part of the Sanctum before Cocoon fell."

That explains the rich clothes. Serah giggled. "That's so cute. Your name is Farin and our last name is Farron."

The man laughed a very plastic laugh it made me cringe to hear. "What is your name pretty girl?"

"I'm Serah. Serah _Farron_. Well, soon it's going to be Serah _**Villers**_." Snow nodded, making sure the man understood that.

"And this must be your sister." He looked me up and down. "Your quite cute yourself."

Anger flared in me. So Serah gets beauty and pretty, and he coughs up a cute with me? Right.

"She's also single." Serah squeaked out and Tifa joined in on the giggling.

The man looked intrigued. "You are a single woman? My, am I a lucky man to have come across you in time. I'm sure all the men are just lining up." he explained cheesingly.

"Yeah. They are lining up. I'm in the army. That's what soldiers do." I explained bluntly, not falling for his cheesy lines.

"You are a soldier? Why? No woman should have to endure s-"

"I'm going to have to stop you right there." I cut off. "I am not interested."

"Claire," Serah whispered, "You are being rude."

"Do not fret, Serah." The man continued his 'perfect man' charade. "I'm sure within time I can win your sister over."

"There's a lake not far from here," I said pointing the direction. "Jump in it."

Then I walked off, upon seeing Yuna talking to Tidus. Serah and Snow caught up with me. "Claire! What was that all about?"

"I'm sorry Serah, but you can tell just by his speech that man is up to no good."

"He's a rich and polite and _gorgous_, Claire." Serah pointed out.

"Um, babe-"

"Of course your polite and gorgous in your own way, Snow!" Serah quickly covered.

"Serah you know me. I'm not interested in dating."

Serah's eyes widened in worry. "Look, Claire...if it's because you're not interested in men-"

"I'm not gay!" I yelled a little too loudly. Why does everyone think that just because I am not the most girliest thing who gawks and flirts with every guy she meets, it means I am not interested in men and _must_ be interested in women.

I am not interested in any romance. I've never been on a date and I never liked anyone growing up. I had much bigger things to worry about. But ever since dad died, my sister has been worried about my love life never existing.

Maybe if I did meet a man (or dare I say woman) that was worth getting romantic with...I don't even want to think about it until that happens.

I quickly dropped the subject and approached Tidus's family.

"Are you going to be alright, dad?" Ainu asked.

"Of course, Ainu. Cloud's leading us. He's a soldier and he knows what he's doing."

"You sure you want to do this, Tidus?" Yuna asked. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I do, Yuna. I feel like I'm a burden not doing anything. I don't work, I just butt in. This will be good for me."

"Well, okay. Whatever makes you happy I'm behind you all the way."

Tidus noticed us. "Hey, guys. What's up."

"We wanted Yuna to check up on Serah real quick." Snow said, ushering Serah forward.

"What's wrong? Is she sick?" Yuna asked approaching the pink haired girl.

"A little. I don't know what's wrong with me though." Serah explained as Yuna checked her over.

"Is it okay if I see you at my clinic after my husband leaves?"

Serah didn't say anything at first, looking like another dizzy spell was taking place. Snow kept his arm around her. "I'll look after her till then."

"Have her resting at the clinic." Yuna instructed. Snow nodded and swooped my little sister up, carrying her towards Yuna's clinic.

I saw Laguna approaching us. "Hey, Cloud wants you to meet by the exit."

"They're leaving already?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Who else is going?" Tidus asked.

"Cloud, you, Vaan, and Reks."

"That's it?" Yuna asked worriedly. "Are you sure you can do that?"

"Yuna." Tidus kissed his wife swiftly. "Were going to be fine. I'll whistle."

Yuna leaned into her husband's touch. "I'll come running."

Later that night...

Everybody had retired to their homes for the night, sound asleep. I still didn't have a clue how to go about this focus, how to tell everyone, and what exactly-

My train of thought was interupted when I heard somebody kick their way into the house. "Everybody get up!" Snow's voice blurted.

"What in the world?" I exclaimed. "Snow!" He barged into my room. "What's wrong with you why are you here?"

He shook me, not aware I was already awake. "The village is under attack! And Serah never came back from the clinic, Yuna had wanted to keep her there overnight!"

I jumped to my feet, slipping into my boots and grabbed my coat. Hope and Bartholomew were leaving their room, Hope struggling to tie his right shoe. "What is going on, Snow?" Bartholomew asked, pushing on his glasses.

A gunshot sounded and I saw Farin fall limp, dead, from outside. I didn't have time to ask who was attacking us because I already had my answer when Imperial Knights entered the house.

"These are the Primarch's men." I informed. I drew my gunblade and took one on, slashing his helmet off and kicking him down, stabbing his eye. Snow took two imperial knights and bumped their heads together while Hope threw his boomerang slicing open their armor. Bartholomew finished them off by shooting them down.

**General POV**

When Terra heard the village was under attack, she snuck into Laguna and Tifa's house and crawled out through the window, where it lead to the Village's exit. She pulled the crystal out of her chest and slammed it against the bridge, summoning her Eidolon. "Valefor!"

She leaped across the bridge and the Valefor swooped her up. "We gotta find Cloud and the others." She informed her. Valefor nodded and the two scoped them out.

It didn't take long before Terra came across familiar spiky blonde hair. She landed in front of them and they all drew their swords, not aware of who it was at first. "Terra?" Cloud asked.

"Cloud, there's trouble back in Oerba!" Terra informed. "Those imperial men are-"

"Chaos!" Tidus exclaimed. Terra turned behind her and a towering black smoke rose above the trees.

**Lightning's POV**

"We need to get to Serah!" Snow exclaimed.

"Dajh!" I heard Sazh calling for his son.

"You lost your son?" I asked him.

"He had went home, I said I was going to go with him after I finished something in my airship. But when I got home, he was gone!"

"What if the imperials burst in?" Bartholomew said.

Sazh paled. "Dear Etro!"

"Is there a safe place?" Bartholomew asked.

We then saw Tifa taking on three Imperial knights all by herself. She kicked one down then did a roundhouse one on the guy behind him then punched the guy that was beside him. She landed on her feet and flipped her hair. She stared at us watching her. "Are you just gonna stand there and watch or are you gonna help me?" She asked.

"The clinic!" Snow started barreling toward Yuna's place. He kicked the door down and laying there was an unconcious Ainu and Yuna who had been shot.

"Oh my God." Tifa exclaimed rushing in. Hope approached Ainu to check his breathing and Tifa crowded around the injured Yuna. The silver haired teen sent healing magic both their way. Snow looked around the clinic.

"Where's Serah?"

Yuna let out a pained cry. "Laguna got them. He got Serah, had Dajh with him."

Sazh let out a sigh of relief. "Where to?"

"My bar." Tifa said as Snow picked Yuna and Ainu up. "Squall's trying to lock everyone in, so we have to hurry!"

We raced out of the clinic just in time to see Old Dalan take on a few Imperial knights himself. "Where do we go?"

"The bar!" I informed him, while passing him by. We quickly took down some Imperial knights crowding the door, and Squall quickly let us in. The whole village was inside.

"Where's Dajh?" Sazh asked.

"And Serah?" I added.

Squall looked back, still trying to keep the door shut. "They never came in. Hopefully they are in a safe place because I'm about to shut these doors."

"You better not!" Snow snapped.

"We got children in here! If you want to go find your loved ones you have to stay outside." Squall ordered.

"Let's go." I told Snow and Sazh.

"I'm going too." Hope informed us. I didn't talk him out of it, and surprisingly neighter did Bartholomew. His father embraced his son like it was the last time he would see him, and the four of us snuck out of the bar, hearing Squall slam it shut.

I heard airships and what sounded Serah screaming from inside Laguna's house. It was faint but I recgonized it. "Serah!" Snow screamd and the four of us busted into Laguna's house.

"There's an exit over here!" Hope told us and he kicked down the right side door. Slunked underneath the window was Laguna, his mechanical leg torn off.

"Daddy!" I heard Dajh cry from underneath the bed. He leaped into his father's arms.

"What happened?" I asked the half concious PSICOM soldier.

"Ser Joxe. He came in here with men. Their airship..." he pointed out the window, the airship long gone. "I told Dajh and Serah to get under the bed so they wouldn't find them. Joxe saw me come in with them though. So when I didn't tell him where they were he tore my mechanical leg off."

Hope was sending him healing magic, tying the end of Laguna's pant leg up to stop any bleeding. "Then what happened?" he pressed.

"Serah started screaming." Laguna said, "The men dragged her out. I don't know why they didn't get Dajh to be honest. I'm sure they knew he was under there too. Anyways, they took Serah."

Snow punched the wall. "Damn it!"

"The Primarch! We gotta go see the Primarch." I informed the L'Cie.

"Come on, Laguna! You can come with us!" Hope told the much older man.

"No." He answered. "I'll hold my own here."

"But you can't walk! You'll bleed out. You'll-"

"Kid, I'll be fine."

"We gotta leave in the airship." Sazh informed.

I had to forcibly pull Hope away from Laguna.

When we got outside, a path of Imperial Knights stood in the way towards the airships. I felt something in my heart, and I knew what I had to do. I unzipped my turtleneck and reached into my returned brand and pulled out my red violet crystal. "Odin." I threw it in the air jumped up and sliced the crystal open. Odin reappeared and I couldn't help but smile down on my Eidolon.

He caught me mid air. "Cut us a path!"

Snow reached into arm. "Shiva." But when he attempted to smash the crystal nothing happened. "What? Why can't I summon?"

"Maybe we haven't been given the ability yet." Hope informed the rest of the L'Cie.

"How disappointing." Sazh said.

Odin transformed into a Stallion and I hopped on. In no time I was able to clear a path for the others to get to the airship. "The storm is here!"

I finished up, and dismissed Odin, quickly entering the airship. Snow sealed the door and Sazh flew off.

The rest of us watched as Oerba was lit on fire from the destruction. "I hope everyone's alright." Dajh whispered leaning into Hope's shoulder.

Snow was sulking, "Damn...I hope Serah's okay."

I sat next to the larger man, patting him on the back.

"Don't worry Dajh. I'll keep you safe." Sazh promised his six year old, who clambered into his dad's lap.

Hope curled up by the window, staring out into the damaged village.


	15. The Primarch vs Chaos

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: Updated 6/24/13. I decided to just finish this chapter anyway. Since I'm about to post up anewchapter tommorrow then there is no point in this cliffhanger. So here we go.**

**Lightning's POV**

"Are we there yet? I heard Dajh ask groggily. It took us all night to get to the outside of Cocoon on airship. And halfway through the night, I woke up from another nightmare. This time about Serah. I saw that Sazh was the only one still awake, still piloting the airship. Realizing how exhausted he'd be by the time we get there I decided to relieve him of his duty as the designated driver.

"You think you got all that, Soldiergirl?" Sazh whispered right before he let out a tired yawn. He had just got done running down the basics on piloting the airship. So basically I just sit there and make sure we don't plummet. Or become under attack. Sounded easy enough.

"Sure." I said. Sazh happily took the seat I was previously occupying, his son crawling into his lap.

Now it was morning, and I can see Cocoon's crystal pillar coming closer. In front was a large battle camp.

"Yup, we're here." Sazh muttered, waking up from his sleep. I heard Snow's large frame try to stretch, while Hope rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Dajh clambered basically into my lap to see the crystal pillar.

"Wow. There's a whole camp down there! Are they more survivors?"

"They are the Primarch's men." Hope informed the six year old.

Dajh looked up at the silver haired teenager questionably. "Are we going to fight them for what they did in Oerba?"

"Not now." I said. "We have to get rid of the bigger threat first. Chaos."

I let Sazh land the airship just outside of the camp. Amodar came to greet us. "Farron? What are you doing here?" He noticed Dajh's prescence.

"Something bad has happened in Oerba." Snow informed. "The Primarch's men that were left behind including Ser Joxe attacked us. And caused alot of damage in our homes."

"They also kidnapped Serah." I added.

Amodar looked appalled. "That's probably why the Primarch wanted us to leave. You think he wants us dead?"

"We need to talk to him." I told him.

"He's in a meeting right now." He said. "And I don't think it's a good idea to cause a scene now. Everyone's on edge about the Chaos. I'll question him though."

"What good is questioning him going to do?" Hope asked.

"I assure you all, you are safe for now. I have to go tend to my duties." Amodar walked off.

"Will we really be okay, daddy?" Dajh asked Sazh, holding his hand.

"I think we can trust Amodar that we'll be taken care here, despite Ser Joxe's betrayal." Sazh tried to reassure us all.

I wasn't too sure. Something didn't seem right. Why would the Primarch's men attack our home in the first place? What do they want with Serah. Unless...it had something to do with Chaos. They probably think we're all contaminated by this chaos.

It was like the Purge all over again. Serah missing and everything. Then I remembered the people who left to seek out the chaos. And the people we left behind in the damage. I was sure we took care of the rest of the men that were left. But still, I couldn't sit easy.

"Hey, Sazh," Snow offered, "Why don't I take Dajh off your hands for a little bit."

"It's okay, daddy!" Dajh reassured when Sazh didn't give an answer at first.

Sazh looked down at his son and nudged him in Snow's direction who scooped him up onto his shoulders. "Be careful now!"

"I think I'll go with them." Hope added, following after the two.

"I guess that just leaves you and me, Soldiergirl." Sazh said, patting my shoulder in a fatherlike matter. As soon as we entered the camp, one of the men addressed Sazh.

"Man," a female knight said, "fetch one of the doctors. One of our men is bedridden with a high fever."

Sazh nodded. "Where are they anyway?"

"I saw one of them over there." The knight pointed toward the right.

The two of us walked in the direction she said and tending to what looked like a battered knight, his armor set aside and he was just in his underwear. I looked around and it seemed alot of doctors were busy. Was chaos already attacking some of the men? Or were they caused by pulsian creatures?

It seemed these knights didn't really know how to fight in Gran Pulse. Armor wasn't going to be enough to protect them. "What do you need?" The doctor asked, an edge to his voice.

"We were sent by one of the knights to come fetch one of you doctors." Sazh informed the man who was giving attitude.

"I only listen to the Primarch himself." The doctor snapped.

"I thought you were a doctor?" I asked, not liking the way this man was speaking to Sazh. "Shouldn't you be trying to help everyone with a smile on your face. You went to school four extra years to become one."

"Do not back-sass me, girl." He seethed and I drew my gunblade, pointing the blade to his throat.

"Uh, Soldiergirl, it's okay. Just back away." Sazh coaxed, pulling me away from the rude doctor.

"I thought you were a soldier?" The doctor continued, "Shouldn't you be only drawing your sword on the enemy. You went through eight weeks of strenuous boot camp to become one."

"Let's go!" Sazh continued and had to drag me away before this doctor would need a doctor himself.

We returned to the female knight. "I'm sorry. We tried to getting you a doctor." Sazh said.

"Oh it's quite alright. Your friend saw our sick knight and is tending to him right now."

I already knew who she was talking about before she even pointed to him. Hope.

"I'm surprised someone that young is that good at taking care of the sick. He's doing a better job than most of our crabby doctors. He has a real positive attitude."

The female knight excused herself and Sazh and I ended up meeting back up with Snow and Dajh who was talking to one of the knights. "My name is Ser Kelso. I'm from a little town near Bodhum." He introduced himself. He was a large and no doubtly muscular man, with spiked up brown hair.

He looked much older than he seemed.

"How did you become part of the Primarch's knights?" Dajh asked, his curiousity getting the best of him.

"Well, after Cocoon's Fall, alot of people remained inside the planet. I was in Eden at the time. Cosmos, this beautiful blonde goddess," his eyes glistened, no doubt thinking of the said beautiful blonde goddess, "restored our world. She gave us a new Primarch. One of the Sanctum Officials, Vayne Solidor. He needed an army. And I was pretty decent with a sword so I volunteered. Sorry it's not a more extravegant story, kid."

"What were you before that?" he continued.

"Just...a normal guy. Always getting into trouble."

"Sounds like me." Snow added and the two men laughed.

"Does anybody know where Rygdea is?" Sazh asked.

"I think he's further away." The knight informed us. "Here, I'll take you to him."

Hope had just joined up with us and the whole group plus Ser Kelso walked across the camp to see our friend. "You best be careful," the knight continued to let us know, "some pulsian animals run rampant. We've been attacked twice by those big beasts and the wolflike poisonous things."

"Behemoths and Lobos." Hope said.

This man has never seen monsters in his life. Not even on Cocoon.

And to enhance his warning, another knight had trudged his way back, bleeding and injured. "I...I'm here...I need a doc...tor..." He was delirious, his eyes crazed looking everywhere.

"Ooh, boy. He looks like the walking dead." Sazh commented.

"Our men were attacked by adamantoises. I barely made it alive."

"Why were you chasing around giant tortoises on land that you know nothing about. That was your first mistake." I commented.

Hope glared at me and Sazh crossed his arms disapprovingly at me. Snow just stared at me like he couldn't believe I just said that. "Glad to see you welcoming a helpful hand." Hope said getting smart.

"What?" I exclaimed. "When we first arrived in Gran Pulse did we go after a giant tortoise? Well, Snow did. But _we_ knew better."

"Soldiergirl," Sazh tried to persuade as Hope began healing the injured man. "I doubt the men were out looking for trouble. What were you out looking for anyway?"

The injured man looked at us sheepishly. "We saw a sheep." He stated in embaassment.

We just stared at him. Sazh shook his head. "Nevermind."

The man made his way into the camp and Ser Kelso watched him with a smug smile. "These grown men were chasing after sheep."

I snickered, and the knight glanced at me for some reason. "They need real men." He emphasized. "Like me. Ain't that right, sweetiepie?"

My eyes narrowed and I could hear my comrades stop breathing altogether includng Dajh. "I am nobody's 'sweetiepie'." I informed in a stern tone.

The man didn't seem to quite understand at first, it reminded me too much of that man in Oerba. Though he's dead now. He just smirked, and I've seen that smirk on a man too many times. It was the smirk of someone who believes I am playing 'hard to get'.

I wanted to smack it right off his dopey face.

Sazh intervened before he could make another supid comment. Ser Kelso continued leading us to Rygdea. "It feels weird here." Hope told me. "It doesn't really feel like we're on Gran Pulse."

"That's only because you've never been to an army's camp before." I informed the teenager.

"Still I've seen the movies." I rolled my eyes at was very practical of a teenager to say. "But the one thing I can say, is that I feel like I'm more battle ready for the wilds then half of the army."

"Most if not all." Hope looked up at me in surprise, his cheeks tinging pink.

"Ooh!" Dajh suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the flattered teenager. "Hope's blushing."

Hope covered his face, turning even more red, and refused to make eye contact with me. At this point I am pretty aware of Hope's crush. I'd like to think it was more of admiring his mentor, but if his face is turning as red as a tomato every time I compliment him let alone people teasing him.

I'm not **that** oblivious.

I think what made me actually believe it was the death glare Hope threw at Ser Kelso earliar when he tried to flirt. It reminded me too much of a jealous puppy.

"Okay Dajh," Sazh said to his six year old, trying not to laugh too much at the embarassed Hope. "Leave him be."

"There he is." Hope said, running ahead.

Rygdea was sitting in his airship, talking through a walkie. He set it aside when he saw us. He seemed already aware of what had happened in Oerba. "Hey y'all. Amodar just told me what happened to Serah and Oerba."

"Yeah." Sazh sighed. "I really hope they are okay back home."

"I hope so, too. But most of them are strong folks. They've held up before. They can do it again. Trust me."

"That sounds awful." Ser Kelso added.

"No really." Rygdea persisted, "they are fighters. They aren't just goin' to it around. You should focus more on this chaos."

"And what about Serah?" Snow said, getting riled up.

"Calm down, Snow." Rygdea reassured the large angry man.

"Snow," I tried reasoning with him, "we **will** save Serah. But chaos could swallow up Cocoon. She's in there. We can't save her if she disappears within it."

"Well," Rygdea said, "there you go then."

Snow sighed, sitting off to the side and sulked.

"I was acually working on some papers," Rygdea rolled his eyes dramatically, "for the Primarch."

"What kind of papers are they?" Sazh asked.

Rygdea shrugged in annoyance mostly at the work he had to do. "Who the fuck cares?"

I snorted at his reply. I had hated doing reports when I worked for the GC. I don't even think I can even remember what most of them were about.

A little later that evening while we were still waiting for the Primarch to show himself (Amodar hadn't even returned) we all sat around the fire. Dajh had stayed with Rygdea. It was obvious the Calvary captain missed Harry and Ruby.

And then, Ser Kelso pulled out a bottle of alcohol, with shot glasses. "Know it would help us loosen up before the big battle." he said.

"More like get them drunk on their asses." I said.

Ser Kelso eyed me, impressed. "You a drinker?"

I rose an eyebrow, "I'm with the GC. Of course I'm a drinker."

"Alright." He said. I already knew his plan. He poured all four of us a glass. Hope just sat and watched, since he was much too young. "Bottoms up." Ser Kelso said.

He, Snow, Sazh, and I downed the liquid, letting it burn our throats. I shook my head and I heard Sazh and Snow make a noise in response. The dark skinned man breathed out, "Whoo! I really needed that!"

"Ditto!" Snow added.

Ser Kelso leered at me. "Say, sweetiepie. How about you and I play a game?"

"What kind of game?" I asked wearily.

"A drinking game."

Sazh intervened. "Hey, we can't overdo this. She still gotta fight. It'd be a shame if she tries to shoot out the blade part of her gunblade, you know what I'm sayin'?" Snow laughed.

"Well," Ser Kelso continued, "If she handles her alcohol well..."

"You're on."

"Light!" Hope exclaimed, having silently been observing. "I don't think-"

"I got this, Hope." I reassured him.

"How about we make this interesting?" Ser Kelso challenged, grinning mischievously. "If I win - I mean _when_ I win, I get to take you out."

I cringed. "Right. But when _I _win," Snow and Sazh chuckled, knowing I was going to be the victor, "Then I **don't **have to go out with you."

Kelso snorted. "Please, what kind of prize is that?"

"Trust me, that is the best prize I can get out of this."

"Alright, sweetiepie." He teased filling our glasses once more. "Can't wait to take you out."

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Hope pressed as we took our first shot.

"They say three is the lucky number." Kelso teased.

"Right." Shot.

"Go Sis!" Snow cheered on. "You can do it."

After the fourth shot, I can already see Kelso get tipsy. "Etro, I've never met a woman who can drink as good as you." Liar. "Where have you been all my life?"

"Running from you." I muttered, downing my fifth. I was starting to feel the effects now.

"Light, I think-"

"No Hope, I'm fine." I snapped.

"Hey kid," Kelso drunkingly yelled at the teenager. "This is between us adults. Go on and play somewhere..." he stared at his shot glass.

I took a gulp of mine. He mimicked me, sputtered and passed out.

"Way to go, Sis." Snow said.

Hope let out a sigh of relief, and I ruffled hs hair. Well, that's what I intended to do. Instead I just rubbed his face. I then saw Amodar walking by with the Primarch. I stood up, anger flaring in my stomach. Maybe a little bit of alcohol slurching in my belly. But I interupted the two (something I would never do) "Primarch!" I addressed. "Your men attacked our home! Your geezer of a right hand man stole my sister! And...some other third thing."

Vayne looked surprised by my outburst, and Amodar (instead of getting upset or angry) laughed. "Farron, are you drunk?"

"Dear Maker." Vayne sighed.

"Even though it sounds like she's babbling." Snow said. "She's telling the truth. Joxe kidnapped Serah. And the men you left behind assaulted us."

"I know. I had heard from the Lieutenant. Honestly, I was afraid to face you. I had always trusted Joxe. I knew him all my life. I am aware you wanted answers, but I'm afraid I have no idea where he is. I haven't been back to Cocoon since I came to your village yeserday morning."

"Anyways," Amodar said after an awkward silence. "Sober up! We are about to head into battle. Chaos should be arriving about now."

I was pulled away by an unamused Hope, who was also forcing me to drink a remedy.

"Now what's a remedy gonna do?" Sazh asked.

The teenager shrugged as I forced the awful liquid down, "It's better than doing nothing."

The remedy did help water down the alcohol. I realized this when my stomach sank at how I confronted the Primarch. Like a drunk asshole. I smacked my forhead. My Lieutenant reapproahed us, patting me on the back. "Oh, Kaztroy," the dark skinned man looked up, "Rygdea is gonna take good care of your boy, you hear?"

"Here they come!" A female knight announced.

"Everbody line up outside the camp." The primarch ordered.

I saw Rygdea's airship take off, just as a fog of chaos began to appear in front of us. Slowly figures appeared. Men in black and red armor.

"Aw, hell." I heard Snow mutter, getting into his battle stance.

The men of chaos began charging towards us, swords raised, while guns blazed. "Charge!" Vayne ordered and we did the same.

As I ran, I could feel the ground shake beneath my feet. I delivered a blow to the head, then blitzed, throwing back three more. Snow delivered an uppercut, knocking a man's helmet off. The man sneered, raising his gun to blow Snow's head off. I swiped it down, ducking as Snow delivered another punch.

I switched my blade to gun mode and began shooting down more chaos gunners. Sazh joining me, killing them in cold blood. One gun ricochetted off the armor, grazing my arm. It patched up right away as Hope sent a cure spell. He then threw his boomerang, taking a few down.

I saw one of the Primarch's men having a bit of trouble holding up against some chaos swordsmen. Luckily Snow had swooped in to save him.

**General POV**

That night in Oerba Village, Terra stared off through the window, watching the rebuilding village cautiously. Ever since her escape from the chaos, she has been feeling a little on edge. She wasn't alone eighter.

Vaan stayed up with her. She can tell by the bags under his eyes that he desperately wanted sleep. But he insisted on keeping the older woman company.

"I wonder where it is now?" Vaan asked.

Terra shrugged, looking into her warm drink. "Somewhere on Gran Pulse, if the Primarch keeps it away from Cocoon."

Vaan yawned, eyes closing. Terra patted his leg in reassurance. "You really don't have to stay up with me if you're going to fall asleep, Vaan." She assured the younger man.

He shook the back of his head bashfully. "I want to. I like spending time with you."

"Oh." Was all Terra can say, taking a sip. She continued to be alert.

"How does it feel to have l'Cie powers?" Vaan asked.

Terra's eyes saddened. "Like a heavy burden."

Reks was over at Tifa's bar, helping himself to his third drink. Tifa watched him in envy. He had no worries. Her bad mood soured even more when Cloud entered. The blonde swordsman approached the bar.

"Hello, sir," Tifa said coldly, cleaning a glass. "May I help you?"

"Tifa when are you going to start talking to me again? You've ignored my prescence since we moved here."

Tifa still stared at him expectantly. "Anything else you'd like sir?"

Cloud didn't say anything, instead just took a seat on a stool, "Give me something hard."

Inside the clinic, Laguna screamed as Maqui reattached his mechanical leg. Tidus had to gently push his wife down when she tried to get out of the hospital bed. "Yuna, you're hurt."

The nurse glanced down at her cast that was helping her recover from the gunshot wound she endured. She sighed, letting her husband continue to tuck her in. "How are you feeling, Laguna?" She asked anyway.

"Just peachy." Laguna said through clenched teeth. "Where's my son?"

"I don't know where Squall is." Maqui answered. "I didn't see him at all today."

Meanwhile, the rest of NORA were hanging out outside of NORA's garage. "This ain't right!" Gadot coplained. "We should be helpin' The Boss! What kind of friends are we?"

"Gadot..." Lebreau tried to coax.

"I mean Serah's our friend too. We should be trying to save her-"

"We're needed here," Yuj said, "for now. For now we're tryng to help rebuild the damage. To assure the survivors that we will never allow anything like that to happen to our home again."

"Those are some bold words,Yuj." Lebreau complimented.

**Lightning's POV**

"Dear Maker..." Sazh groaned thirty minutes into battle. The Chaos army was wearing thin, and we were about to win. "I don't know how much longer I can go."

"Come on, Old man," Hope encouraged, "every enemy we kill gets us one step closer to Serah."

"Right!" I said, taking down a knight with a thunder spell.

But then we encountered a different kind of monster. A behemoth...but black chaos was seeping through. "Uh oh," Sazh commented, "I'm not too sure about this one."

"Come on, Sazh," Snow said walking our way. "After taking down Dysley like five times in every shape and form and making Orphan's cradle fall, this should be a piece of cake. Heros never run from fights. **Shiva!**" Still nothing happened. "Dammit!"

"Let me try." Hope said."**Alexander!**" Nothing happened with him eighter. "I really thought it would work."

"We don't need an eidolon to take it down." I told the two. "Let's do this!" I switched my gunblade to blade mode and began to attack the great beast in a rage. It swung it's giant weapon and I backflipped over it, switching to gun mode and popping one in it's eye.

Hope had now went into blade mode and blocked an attack toward the group. He jumped away from it, switching to boomerang mode and letting it take some serious damage.

"My turn now." I heard Snow say, cracking his knuckles. He went for the jump knocking him on his back. I was about to finish him off when I saw the chaos leave the behemoth's mouth and enter one of the Primarch's knight's body.

The man screamed...and aimed his gun at one of his men and shot him down dead. Snow jumped off the creature to deal with the knight but the knight turned around in a panic and shot Snow too!

"Snow!" Hope screamed as the large man fell to his knees, clutching his neck. That same knight aimed his gun at Sazh and he ducked only for the bullet to strike within my chest.

I saw instead of feel two more hit around the same area. The world froze. I saw Sazh and Hope turn around, faces in horror. I felt completely numb and fell to the ground, falling into unconciousness.

_A bright light was rushing toward me, and a cold breeze bit my cheeks as I was rushed towards that light. Particles of snow blowing into my face. Everything was white._

_I was lying down. My eyes...open? Everything around me was crystal._

_Was this dream? I looked down at my chest, and it glowed a red violet. "What is this?"_

_I heard quickening footsteps, sounding like somebody was running toward me. I was about to draw my sword when something leaped engulfing me in a giant hug. "Lightning!"_

_That voice. That accent. "V-Vanille?" I questioned. She pulled away from me. And it was indeed the happy and bubbly red headed pulsian woman I remembered. She giggled at my stunned expression. "How did...where am I?"_

_The girl took my hand and pulled me in a direction. I was lost. Crystal continued to fall, and I was still freezing, it was a wonder Vanille wasn't shivering like I was. Where were we even going? Everything's white._

_"'ey, girlie." Fang appeared, spear in hand and a cocky grin._

_I smirked back. "What is this? Some sort of afterlife? Wait..." My heart stuttered for a moment. "Am I dead?"_

_The two girls laughed. Something they used to always do whenever I asked a question. It still bugged me even now. "No, silly." Vanille said._

_"We aren't even dead. We're in crystal." Fang informed us._

_"We've been watching over you. You, Hope, Sazh, Snow."_

_"Even that sister of yours."_

_My heart raced when they mentioned this. "You mean you know where she is?" I asked._

_"Of course we do!" Vanille exclaimed. "Ser Joxe has her captured at that new Primarch's Palace."_

_"Like a princess." Fang added._

_"Literally. They dressed her up and are treating her like royalty."_

_I felt a little bit relieved that she wasn't, say, locked up in the cell and tortured. But why would they do this?_

_Having apparently read my mind Fang answered my unspoken question. "Your Primarch is in love with your sister, so he wants to make her his wife."_

_"You mean he had the men destroy your home, our home, just because he has a crush on my sister?"_

_"Well, duh." Fang answered. "If Serah didn't have another fiance, a family, a home, then she would have no one to come back to. But of course he forgets he's dealing with L'Cie here. Men can be such idiots."_

_Vanille giggled. "It's so much fun watching you set off on an adventure. It's like watching a movie."_

_"Love the chocobo chase you embarked on." Fang clapped slowly, "You did us proud." She added sarcastically._

_"Wait." I ignored her joking, "do you also understand our Focus? On what we have to do."_

_"Now, we can't tell you everything, girlie-girl. Then everything will go too easy."_

_"Right." I answered._

_"We will help you, though." Vanille insured._

_"We'll be with you every step of the way. You may not think we're there but we are."_

_"When you leave, you should speak to Rygdea for what to do next."_

_"Why Rygdea?" I asked. "Does he know something?"_

_"That chocoboy don't even know he knows something." Fang laughed, "but if you talk to him, then you might get an idea how to map out your journey."_

_"Do not go after Serah until everything else is complete." Vanille warned. "She is going to be lonely...but she will be kept safe from harm. Okay?"_

_I nodded, and I felt suddenly lighter. My hands, my legs, my whole body was becoming transparent. "Where am I going now?" I asked exasperated._

_"Back to the land of the living..." Fang joked in a fake mysterious voice. Vanille whacked her in the stomach playfully._

_"Will I see you again?" I asked._

_"I don't know." Vanille answered. "Maybe."_

_"Just don't get your ass shot down again. You were lucky this time."_

_"Wait what-"_

I sat straight up. And staring straight across from me was Hope, a bowl of soup in one hand, and using his other hand to cast healing magic. "Light?" he asked seeming stunned at my sudden alertness.

I took in my surroundings. It seemed like I was inside Sazh's airship. There was only one hospital bed in here. Didn't look like ours.

Then I remembered the events. I was shot down. "What happened?" I exclaimed.

"Light, we're back in Oerba now." He informed me.

"Oerba?" I asked. "Why are we back here." I looked down and realized I was topless except for bandaging wrapped firmly around my breasts. I noticed the strange shaping of them in bewilderment.

Did Hope do this? Seeming to know what I was thinking, Hope quickly jumped. "Don't worry! It wasn't me. Yuna did most of the actual wrapping. I helped...I didn't look or anything." He swore.

"How?" I wondered. I was hit square in the chest. Nobody survives an injury like that.

Hope stared at me confused for a moment before he finally understood exactly what I was asking. "Oh! It was your brand." Hope informed me. "The bullets hit directly at your brand."

Not quite understand what Hope meant I reached for my brand. "My crystal." I pulled the item out, hearing Odin's words echoing in my head. Examining the piece there was no sign of any cracks. Like always.

"After you were shot..." Hope looked like he was having a hard time explaining. "Odin was summoned within you. He saved you Light."

I looked down at my crystal, feeling Odin's prescence in the palm of my hand.

"He was not happy what those Chaos Knights did to you. And he unleashed hell." Hope chuckled.

I smiled at the image of an enraged Eidolon swinging his sword around taking out men after his master's injury involuntarily summoned him. "So he saved my life, huh."

"Yeah. But...bad news is the Primarch knows now we have retained all our powers of a L'Cie. Well, you did at least. The rest of us still can't summon." he then looked down. "Light there's another reason we had to hurry to Oerba."

"Hope, I don't like the sound of this."

"You won't." He looked back up, his face the most serious I've ever seen it. "it's about Dajh."

Hope didn't even finish telling me the details. As soon as the first four words left his mouth, I jumped out of bed, grabbing my turtleneck and coat despite Hope's protests to lie back down.

"Don't tell me things like that and expect me to calm down." I snapped at the teenager kicking the door open. I rushed straight towards Yuna's clinic. Rygdea and Snow were sitting outside. When they saw me, they seemed surprise by my sudden appearance. "Are we not allowed in?" I asked.

"No." Rygdea answered.

"How is he?" I asked.

"We don't know." Snow said.

"How about Sazh?"

"He looked awful, Light." Hope said.

"How did this happen?"

"I don't think I should tell you." Rygdea said. "All I'm going to say is that...Amodar feels like it's his fault. He was in charge of Dajh."

"Alot was going on." I said.

"I think we should discuss this focus of yours." Rygdea began walking away from the clinic toward his own airship. We entered one by one, Rygdea's sitting in the pilot seat, me in the seat beside him, while Snow and Hope sat behind us.

"Okay...I hate having to be the one to ask all the questions." I admitted, "but what exactly happened out there? Hope told me about Odin and Dajh already. What about the Primarch? And Chaos? Did we win? Did we lose? Did chaos get into Cocoon-"

"Just let it all out." Rygdea stated distractedly. I glared at him.

"Sis," Snow answered for me. This is when I for some reason suddenly realized the neckbrace around his neck. I only remembered barely that he had been shot too. By a possessed Imperial knight. "I was injured, You were injured. Dajh was..." He trailed off.

"Actually," Hope intervened..."I saw..."

"Saw what?" I asked.

"The Chaos."

Rygdea let out a frustrated sigh. "So much for that. We gotta get rid of that pesky black smoke once and for all. That damn thing is responsible for Dajh's loss of sight!"

I saw Hope flinch at Rygdea's angry words.

"Maybe that's our focus." Snow figured. "To defeat Chaos."

"How do we beat something like that?" Hope asked.

"Let's try to dissect this dream." I suggested.

"Good idea, Farron." Rygdea praised.

"Can anyone remember things from that dream?"

"There was some sort of Eidolon getting killed." Hope said. "It kind of looked like Valefor."

"Really? It looked like Bahamut to me." Snow said.

I reached for an empty notebook in front of Rygdea and sketched the image from the dream while Snow kept arguing about how much it looked like Bahamut. "This is the Eidolon from the dream."

"Hey, this isn't bad Farron." Rygdea complimented, taking the notebook. "You draw alot?"

"Uh, when I was young yeah." I said. "Anyways, it looks like a different type of Eidolon. A mixture between the two definitely."

"A lovechild." Snow commented and Hope rolled his eyes.

"Right." I said slowly. "What about the person who was surrounded by the cloud of chaos."

"Maybe he's the guy that causes the chaos." Rygdea suggested.

"I couldn't see his face." I said, remembering the vague figure, and it seemed Snow and Hope couldn't make it out eighter. "What about towards the end. The mirror. And a cieth version of us."

"Hey, Sis." Snow called to me, "remember when we were on Cocoon right after it fell and we went to Eden with Cosmos. Did you see the same thing there?"

"Yeah." I replied. "We saw the same vision of the cieth in Eden. Do you have any idea what it means?"

Snow shrugged, straining inside his neckbrace and wincing. "So the only thing we have to go on is the Eidolon thing. What do we do?"

"You said Chaos returned to Cocoon, right Hope?" Rygdea asked the teenager. "Do you have an inkling of where it exactly entered from?"

Hope furrowed his eyebrows, closing his eyes as he tried to remember. "I believe...from what I can tell...it was through the opening. I want to say the Vile Peaks...or somewhere around there. I'm not too sure."

"That's better than nothin'. I expect it just be you three going."

"I honestly wouldn't blame Sazh if he wants to stay behind and be with Dajh." Hope replied. "Especially under the circumstances."

"We can still ask." Snow offered. "I'll expect a no, but it can't hurt. It's better than just leaving without a word."

"Let's wait a day." Rygdea said. "Besides, Snow and Lightning you too are still hurt. I doubt you can fight in a neckbrace."

Snow laughed then grunted in pain. "Hope, I could use some healing over here."

"Oh right." Hope said sending spells the large man's way. Snow sighed in relief.

We left Rygdea's airship and headed for Bartholomew's house. Hope's father seemed pleased to see me. "Miss Farron. How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Like I was never hurt to begin with. Your son does good work." I said, patting Hope on the shoulder.

Once again Hope blushed, looking down on the ground. "Uh, well, Odin was the one who saved your life."

"Why don't you come inside and eat." Bartholomew offered. "Snow why don't you join us?"

Snow looked between the three of us awkwardly. "Uh, well,"

"Snow, you are welcome to our home."

"Well, alright then."

Already sitting at the table eating was Cloud, he looked more surprised to see me. "You okay?" he asked.

"Fine." I replied, taking a seat directly across from him. "How is everybody after we left?" I asked.

"They are all alive." Cloud informed. "Yuna's in a cast though. Laguna's bedridden after Maqui replaced his mechanical leg. Have you seen Sazh yet?"

"No." I said, taking a bite of the meal.

"He hasn't been outside the clinic since you came back in. Neighter has Yuna."

"Ainu and Marlene are getting anxious." Bartholomew added.

"What are we going to do now that...Dajh can't see?" I asked. It still was hard to believe what happened to the poor six year old. Like Sazh hadn't already suffered enough.

"It's...going to be tough. For both the boy and his father. But only time will tell." Bartholomew answered, taking a sip out of his cup.

We spent the remainder of lunch eating in silence. I was the third one finished. Snow being first and eating seconds while Cloud was second and dismissed himself.

"I should be getting back." Snow said pushing himself up. "I should rest this injury off."

"Want me to come with you?" Hope offered, sending spells his way like it was nothing.

"I'm starting to feel alot better now, thanks, I'm just tired is all." The large man reassured.

"I'll walk you there." I offered, not even giving him room to object and walked right out the door. Snow followed after me.

When I entered Snow's house, it actually occured to me this is my first time into Snow and Serah's home. A home they created together as a soon to be married couple. Fang and Vanille's old home. "Why did you give Bhakti to Rygdea again?" I asked Snow.

"Well, I had initially given him to Harry. But then he and Ruby left so Rygdea's been taken care of him. The guy gets lonely so..." His eyes downcasted.

It's obvious he missed Serah. It was like the L'Cie Adventures all over again. Too much...

I sat down on the couch making room for the large man's stature.

**General POV**

Hope was sitting patiently outside the clinic. Not caring about the cold, and only tightened his coat around him. Viride was sitting near his feet, whimpering. The silver haired teen petted his dog in reassurance.

The clinic's door opened and Sazh walked out. His eyes had dark circles and were red from lack of sleep. He was so numb he didn't even see Hope at first until the teenager stood up to full height. "Hope..." Sazh said like he hadn't seen him in a long while. "Have you been waitin' out here in the cold this entire time?"

Hope shook his head, crossing his arms. He studied him further. "Are you okay?"

Sazh sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets, "No."

"I thought so."

Despite the grim exchange Sazh laughed shortly. "Yuna kicked me out. Said to go and get us something to eat."

"Want me to go with you?" Hope asked.

Sazh smiled with a nod. The two began walking together towards Tifa and Lebreau's.

**Lightning's POV**

I figured Snow needed a heart to heart...but I never thought he'd start **bawling**!

Okay, bawling is an exageration. But he has been going on about my sister for thirty minutes now. This is what being considerate and sensitive gets you.

"What am I supposed to do tonight?" Snow asked. "Serah and I have been making l-"

"Stop!" I exclaimed, plugging my ears and shaking my head furiously. "Stop! I don't want to know what you and my sister do in the bedroom."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Snow it's me!" I heard Maqui's voice on the other side. Snow was about to get up but I forced him back down and answered the door for him. The blonde looked surprised to see us. "Lightning! You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Peachy." I answered. I was sick of saying fine everytime someone asked how I felt. And I know I'll be asked plenty of more times today, so why not change up my word usage.

"That's great." Maqui said pleased. "I wanted to let you know that if you plan on leaving to use only one airship. Last time both airships were gone, and you never know if we need another emergency exit."

"How'd you know we were leaving?" Snow asked from the couch.

"Rygdea may have mentioned it." Maqui mumbled.

I rolled my eyes at Rygdea's inability to keep quiet.

"He also said...after what happened with Dajh, you might need people to back you up. I don't know anything about being a L'Cie and stuff, but if you do need help, Snow, you know we are still there for you, right?"

"Of course, Maqui." Snow said. "We're not leaving right away. We're giving Sazh some time before we let him know that we're leaving. I really don't think he can come so...yeah, I'll bring you guys most likely. If Sis is okay with that?"

I shrugged. "I don't care who we bring, as long as we get rid of this chaos once and for all and I get my sister back."

**General POV**

Terra was finished with another day of school. The teacher was surprised to find her much younger roommate waiting for her outside the building. At first she's been ignoring his prescence, but now it was starting to bother her.

Especially when she overhears him and his older brother arguing about claiming dibs like she was a new toy. They were immature, and it was getting to be so much of a bother that Terra was actually considering finding another place to stay.

"Vaan, I am flattered that you and Reks both like me. But I'm too old for you." She told him directly.

"You don't look old." He said.

"Thank you. I get that alot. But in fact I am. Mentally." She pointed to her head when she said that.

"Come on, Terra. Age is just a number. Give me a chance." Vaan pleaded.

"Vaan!" Terra was starting to lose her patience. "Your sweet. And funny. But I just don't see you in that way, okay. You or Reks. You are just my friends. My much younger friends."

The younger man pouted and crossed his arms and watched Terra walk away from him.

**AN: So, I hope I did a better job. I was furious with how the chapter had ended originally so I added more to it. Expect the next chapter tommorrow.**


	16. Gettin' Ready for some Turbulence

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: PLEASE READ! I have updated Chapter 15 6/24/13. If you haven't read the updated version of that. Please do or you'll be lost at what's going on.**

**General POV**

Primarch Vayne Carrinas Solidor continued to speak to the population of Cocoon about the events that happened outside of Cocoon. All except what has happened to the L'Cie and Chaos's return. In fact, he had assured everyone that they have won this battle.

Everybody was celebrating, dancing in the streets, drinks on the house, confetti flying everywhere as they congradulated the Primarch on a job well done. But the victory wasn't the only thing they were celebrating.

The Primarch had also just announced his proposal to a "common girl", Serah Farron. She was a beauty with long curly pink hair tied into a knot behind her head, light pink makeup, wearing a white halter top with a velvet pink skirt, with white stockings and pink heeled boots.

When everyone saw the beautiful woman, they were overjoyed about the wedding.

All except for Serah.

She sat silently beside Vayne, struggling not to cry after her make up artist ordered her not to. Not wanting to be punished, Serah struggled to keep her emotions in check. But when the cameras shut off, Serah covered her face with her hands, letting off an emotional sob.

Vayne coaxed the young girl, "Why are you crying, my love? Are you not happy here?"

Serah continued to cry, not even being able to speak. The doors opened up, and one of Cosmos's mages, Lulu, entered looking very much unimpressed by the Primarch. "Your Emminence! What brought you to lie to your own people about Chaos?"

Vayne just groaned, rolling his eyes at the dark haired woman. "Why, so everyone is worried? There is a wedding to plan."

"There are much bigger worries than your wedding. If we don't defeat Chaos then there wouldn't even be a wedding to begin with."

"Chaos would not interfere, I assure you." Vayne promised.

Lulu shook her head, disgusted. "Cosmos is going to hear about this." She spun on her heel, walking back out the door. She looked back as Serah looked up, tears streaming down her face. Lulu pitied Vayne's new fiance', but didn't interfere and continued her way.

Vayne stood from his seat and reached a hand out to his lovely bride to be. "Come, let us have lunch."

Serah sniffled, but still took his hand, knowing there was nothing else she could do. She didn't even know if Snow was still alive.

**Lightning's POV**

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Maqui was the one to answer the door this time as Snow and I sat on the couch. Hope had rushed in with Sazh.

"Sazh?" I asked.

"Are you alright? How-"

"Chaos knights are coming into the village!" Hope hollered, pulling his boomerblade.

I quickly grabbed my own gunblade rushing behind them. At least six strong Chaos Knights entered the village. Vera screamed cowering behind Squall who went in to attack first.

I knew it wouldn't take long for all of us dispatch the knights. I launched one particularly big one up in the air, Snow helping me the rest of the way up, and finished him off.

By the time I reached back to the ground everyone had easily taken care of the intruders. The training having helped a bit. Amodar looked somehow proud.

Snow whimpered, "Ow...I pulled something."

"Idiot," I muttered, "you shouldn't have been fighting."

Hope casted a healing spell his way. I looked around for Sazh and saw him duck inside the clinic once more, returning to Dajh.

"I can't sit around and do nothing." Snow whined, "that's not me."

"Snow," Hope lectured, "if you strain your neck one more time I will not heal you."

"You wouldn't really just 'not heal me', would you?"

"You want to find out?"

"Just go back home and rest." I ordered Snow. He just pouted.

"Some of them are still alive." Bartholomew said, pointing to at least two Chaos knights, their helmets now off groaning from the ground. "Should we finish them?"

"Wait," Amodar said, holding Tidus back who was about to finish the job. "Lock them up. We can question them later."

"Good idea," Gadot praised. He and Rygdea went for the bigger knight, the both of them struggling to pick him up to his feet. Hope and I decided to get the much scrawnier one.

"Take them to where Ruby's Theatre house was." Bartholomew ordered.

The four of us, dragging the unconcious bodies headed for Ruby's old place, having been cleaned out the day she left. We tied them up using some leftover pully strings.

"Let's wake 'em up." Rygdea said. "Care to do the honors?" He asked me.

I cracked my knuckles but then I heard footsteps behind me, as Tifa entered. "Allow me."

I stepped aside, allowing Tifa's much stronger fist get the job done. "We're trying to wake him up," Gadot joked, "not kill him."

"Don't worry. I can give a sting." She then swung, snapping the smaller one right away. He jumped looking around in a panic.

The larger one was snoring, and we all exchanged a look. Tifa spinwheel kicked him in the jaw and he grunted and snorted in irritation. He looked just as bewildered. "Hello, boys." Tifa teased.

They struggled against the restraints. "There's no use, you ain't goin' no where." Rygdea said. "You've been tied up by a boy scout." He added patting Hope on the top of his head.

"Now who are you?" I asked.

"W-we're travelers." The scrawny one tried to lie.

"Bullshit." Gadot muttered. "We know who you guys are."

"Then why ask the question?" The knight asked with a cheeky grin.

"You aren't in the best position to have that kind of attitude." Hope pointed out, one eyebrow raised and crossing his arms.

That same knight leered at Tifa, noticeably peeping underneath her skirt. "I think I am in the best position."

The martial artist rolled her eyes and kicked him in the jaw, spit flying out. She backed up behind Gadot.

"Wow, you're fierce!" he exclaimed, his voice cracking in pain at the end. "You kicked me in the throat, girl."

"Uh..." his companion stuttered, as big as he was he looked terrified of Tifa. "I think we should just do what they say."

"Jeremy, have you forgotten what our boss said?" The scrawny one muttered, but I heard him.

"Who's your boss?" I asked.

"He's-"

"Jeremy! Shut up, man!" He laughed nervously. "We don't know anything. Really."

"I think you do." Rygdea said.

"No. We don't. We're kind of stupid."

"Chaos always says we'-"

"Jeremy, **shut the fuck up**!" The knight barked at his large and rather slow friend.

Tifa punched the scrawny one in the face, really nailing him. He screamed in pain and coughed.

"Alright! Alright! We work for Chaos."

"We figured that much." I said. "But who is Chaos."

"That's his name. I swear. He looks like that one Eidolon. The fire beast thing. Efrit?"

"Ifrit?" Hope suggested.

"Yeah! Him! He's not a person, you see. He's...well, he's not a person! Now let us go!"

"He seems to be telling the truth." Hope said.

"Keep them alive in here. We might need more answers." I said. "Gadot, you keep watch."

"Yes, ma'am."

The rest of us exited the theatre house, trusting Gadot to take good care of them.

Well...make sure they don't escape. They weren't the most clever pair. Snow waited outside, ignoring my order to go home. "Well, did you learn anything?" he asked.

"We know that Chaos isn't a person." Hope said.

"What is it then? A Fal'Cie?"

"He said he looked like the Eidolon Ifrit."

"Who?"

"Nevermind." I muttered walking past the large man.

"Well at least we know that if we see him we'll know." Snow said, looking at the bright side.

"If he shows himself." Hope mumbled.

"What about where we're going?" Snow asked.

"I was going to suggest the Vile Peaks." I said. "Unless eighter of you have a suggestion?"

"I agree with you." Snow said.

Hope looked doubtful. "I already said I wasn't sure on where it exactly came from. I just guessed the Vile Peaks. It could really be anywhere. What about Serah? Shouldn't we be rescuing her?"

"She'll be fine, Hope." I reassured him and Snow as well. "I know my sister will be fine. I'm sure of it."

"How can you be so sure?" Snow asked.

"She's my sister, Snow."

"And she's my fiance'!"

"Hey, guys," Hope got inbetween us as our voices began to raise. "Let's not fight. Oh!" He suddenly said, "before those guys came, I spoke to Sazh."

"You did." I stated, not really questioning. I remember seeing Sazh with Hope for a brief moment. "What did he say."

"He's coming with us."

I was surprised to hear that.

"Why?" Snow asked. "I thought Sazh would have wanted to stay with Dajh."

"Sazh did. But Dajh encouraged him to complete his Focus. Sazh thinks that if we get rid of the chaos then maybe..."

"That doesn't sound likely to happen." Snow pointed out. "Dajh is blind. He needs his dad."

"I've tried talking Sazh into staying. I really did." Hope tried to reason, turning away and staring off. The clinic wasn't exactly blocked from any visitors, but we felt that it was respectful to stay out of Sazh and Dajh's way.

"He wants revenge." I said.

"Yeah." Hope replied. The three of us have been down this same road, when Hope thought Snow was responsible for the death of his mother. I had involuntarily set him on the wrong path. The one that would result in his life falling apart even more.

He has really matured since then. Even though Chaos has done alot of harm, and is responsible for what has happened to Dajh (even Rinoa), then...is vengeance still wrong? Dajh, that happy six year old with a love for chocobos may still never see again.

Nothing will ever be the same for him or for Sazh. Would it be right to take him away when his son needs him most? I was at a loss of what to do, until I heard a commotion in the theatrehouse.

"Dammit!" I swore, as the three of us rushed in.

Gadot was on the ground, pinned down by Jeremy, while the scrawny knight was untying the last restraints. "What happened!?" Hope exclaimed, "I tied those knots supertight!"

"Your friend here let us go." The knight taunted.

"Gadot! You had **one** job!" I yelled. He looked up at me sheepishly.

That knight also had his gun, and was pointing it at Gadot's head. "If eighter of you even come close to attacking us I will blow his fuckin' brains out!"

"Let him go!" Snow yelled.

He shoved the gun closer to Gadot's face, "I flippin' dare you."

He kept his eyes on us, but then out from the side, somebody shot at the knight's head. His eyes widened in shock, and he dropped the gun next to Gadot. He slumped to his knees then keeled over, dead. Shot in the back of his head.

We all looked over at the window to see Maqui, having shot the man down from the window. The large man tried to reach for the gun, but his distraction gave Gadot the chance to throw him over, snatching the gun up.

I blew the back of his head up with my gun. Like the previous guy he slumped over dead.

"Well that could have gone over smoother." I muttered.

"Gadot!" Hope yelled as Maqui rushed in, "I cannot believe you did this! Why the hell did you let him go?"

"I wasn't trying to let him go." Gadot tried to redeem himself. "Jeremy's hand was getting cut off from any circulation so I was just going to loosen them abit."

"You were trying to make a prisoner more comfortable?" Snow asked exasperated.

"Well...yeah?"

The larger man shook his head. "Clean this up. Good job Maqui."

**General POV**

Vaan was determined to go out with Terra. Even though she had already rejected him three times he was sure if he kept asking she would eventually say yes. Then he would show her the time of her life (with what they have of course), and she will fall in love with him.

Though he actually sounds pretty ridciculous when you actually think about it, it wasn't to Vaan. Reks has also been trying to ask Terra out. And what Vaan noticed was that she was alot nicer to Vaan than she was to Reks.

With Reks the rejection was usually accompanied by a door slammed in his face or an insult. Reks would argue and say that those are good signs. That a woman who lashes out at man is interested.

Vaan hoped his brother was wrong. So Vaan knocked on Terra's door. She opened it, sighing. "What do you want Vaan?"

"I know you already said no-"

"The answer is still no."

"Oh come on!" Vaan snapped waving his arms frantically. "Why not?"

"I'm not interested. That's just it."

He then stepped back, "Oh, I get it. There's somebody else isn't there?"

"No."

"It's Amodar isn't it?" Vaan guessed. "He's the only other guy the same age as you."

"No. It's not Amodar." Terra answered, just blinking at Vaan.

"Then, is it Sazh?"

"No."

"Bartholomew?"

The teacher crossed her arms, unamused. "No. And it's not Laguna since you're going up the list."

"Then I'll go down. Is it Cloud?"

"No."

"Tidus?"

"He's married to Yuna!" She snapped at him.

"Oh, right. What about Squall?"

"Vaan. I am not interested in anybody."

"In Oerba?"

"**No**!" Terra barked getting upset. "Anywhere! I'm not interested in anybody. I don't like anybody. I don't love anybody! Happy now?" **Slam!**

Vaan just stared at the door in front of him, surprised at Terra's outburst. He felt bad for making her mad like that, and decided to give her some time before he goes to apologize.

Terra on the otherside of the door had her back leaning against it. A sudden sob escaped her and she slumped to the ground, burying her face into her legs that she pulled up, and cried softly.

Meanwhile, Yuj was hanging out with Lebreau at her place, sketching. "What are you drawing?" Lebreau asked, leaning over the counter to see.

"I'm designing battlewear. You think Snow would look hot in this? I'm trying to pull off the rebellious biker look without getting all dark. Like I'm using some blues, some light grays..."

Lebreau's eyebrows scrunched up in concentration as she studied the drawing. "If you want something hot, show off his chest more. And instead of leather use cotton."

Yuj rose an eyebrow. "I like showing off his chest, but cotton?"

Lebreau laughed. "So, what, are you designing a L'cie uniform?"

Yuj laughed. "Lebreau, come on. They aren't a Saturday morning cartoon. Everybody has their own style. Some look better in certain things than others. Like I would design clothes that will show off your thick sexy legs..." he then leaned over, "but I won't show off Lightning's scrawny ones if you know what I mean."

"Hey!" Lebreau argued, "Lightning's my friend now. And I think she's beautiful in her own way."

"She's got a pretty strong face. She'll look a little prettier if she wore a little more make up. And didn't make me chop off her hair."

"You only cut off like this much of it." Lebreau argued, holding out her thumb and index finger apart. "And a girl isn't beautiful only if she wears make up."

"I suppose." Yuj muttered. "Anyways, what do you think of these skinnies for Hope?"

"Skinnies?" Lebreau questioned evaluating his drawing. "Where are his back pockets?"

Yuj couldn't keep the grin off his face.

"Oh my gosh, Yuj, he's fourteen years old!" Lebreau laughed swatting his head with his own designer book as he laughed shamelessly.

Later that night, before they went to sleep, Hope informed his father that he and the other L'Cie plus probably NORA as well, were leaving in the morning. Bartholomew hadn't said anything at first. "Dad?" Hope asked after a while.

"Okay son. Just be careful."

Hope turned around to face his father, who had his back to him. "Aren't you worried?"

"About what?"

"About me leaving you here."

Bartholomew chuckled to himself. "I think I'll be fine without your protection, son."

"You know that's not what I meant."

Hope's father swtiched position so he was now facing his son. Hope always thought when his father's glasses are off, he didn't seem as scary. The glasses gave off a strict aura around him. But without them, he can see his soft and caring brown eyes that his mother would sometimes gush about whenever she told Hope the story about how she met him.

"Hope, I understand that you are no longer a child. Not really. You are a L'Cie. And when duty calls...I have to let you go."

"When duty calls..." The silver haired teen repeated softly to himself. "What about Sazh? Do you think he should go?"

"I heard he wants to go."

"But do you think he should? Is that right for Dajh?"

Bartholomew didn't stay anything for quite some time. He even turned over onto his back stared straight up coming up with a suitable answer. Hope just watched him, patiently waiting. "Yes."

"That took a long time for you to answer." Hope stated, narrowing his eyes.

"Dajh wants his father to complete his Focus. He may be a six year old, but he is more aware of what's going on than he lets on. Now get some sleep, son. You have a big day tommorrow."

Bartholomew's back was facing Hope again, and the silver haired teen just stared back for a while, before he turned his back. But he was never able to sleep.

Sazh had insisted Yuna go home to her husband and son after spending the entire night before and all day today taking care of Dajh. Her body was heavy with exhaustion that Sazh had to half walk/half carry Yuna to her house. She was still in a sling from the injury from the night Oerba was under attack, and will be for a very long time.

After Sazh went back to the clinic, Tidus hurried Yuna to their room before she collapsed. She was already falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. "Yuna..." Tidus sighed looking down lovingly at his wife. "Your not even in your pajamas yet." He laughed.

She was knocked out. Helping his wife get more comfortable he stripped her down til she was just in her camisole and panties. He tucked her in but she had held his hand. Her eyes slowly opened and he realized she was crying. "Dajh is such a brave little boy..." She whispered, voice cracking. "I couldn't bring myself to cry in front of him."

Tidus leaned over and kissed his wife's forhead. She sobbed softly.

"How could those...those...bastards do this to him!" She whispered in anger, her tears threatening to spill over.

Tidus climbed into the bed on the otherside and let Yuna curl up against his chest. He stroked her soft brown hair as he watched his wife sleep.

**Lightning's POV**

The next morning, I found Maqui working on Sazh's airship. "Good morning, Lightning."

"So you guy are really coming, huh?" I said, crossing my arms and leaning against the door watching him.

"Yeah. The army is no match for NORA. Snow is part of two groups now. Why not just work together."

I shrugged. "I honestly don't care. As long as you don't get in the way."

Maqui glanced at me before covering his eyes with the goggles once more. "And about Gadot, I fired him."

I rose an eyebrow. I remembered the events the other day, but I didn't think he'd fire him from his job for it. Yeah it was stupid, and could have costed him his life...

"It wasn't really my decision though." Maqui added, still focusing on fixing up the airship, "Snow's orders."

"Really?" I asked. Snow was usually an easygoing guy. I never really thought he would punish his bestfriend. I always had the impression he let his team do whatever they wanted.

"Gadot could have died. Or they could have caused more damage. Snow can't trust him." Maqui continued.

"Then who's in charge of our weapons?" I asked. My gunblade may be needing a tune up, and Gadot, I had to admit, did a good job on taking care of my gunblade.

"Snow is. Just until Gadot can prove his loyalty once more. Oh. And Snow doesn't need his neck brace anymore."

"He's all better now? Already?"

"I guess. Better than he was when you all got here. It was so crazy. He was struggling for air, you were out cold..." He trailed off and I knew he was thinking about Dajh. "It was a long and restless night for us all. And we were still recovering from the night before. Two nights in the row without sleep does things."

"Are they at the garage?" I asked, making my way there anyway. Snow was checking over the guns that he was going to distribute to the other NORA members while Gadot watched in depression.

"Look man, I really am sorry about what happened yesterday." Gadot said, his voice heavy with regret.

"I know you are Gadot," Snow said, checking one of the guns to see if it was loaded, "but you could be dead if Maqui hadn't shot him down."

"Now you know..." Gadot was about to say something, but then decided against it.

"Hey, Sis. You ready?" Snow asked, cocking the gun in his hand.

"As I'll ever be." I answered leaning against the counter watching Snow work. "When are we leaving?"

"This afternoon." Snow answered. "You need upgrades, Sis?"

I considered that for a moment. Snow tends to go overboard with upgrades. I remembered when Vanille had let him upgrade her binding rod. We had no more supplies yet for the rest of us. He said that she needed them.

She used more magic than the binding rod. So those upgrades went to waste. "Not now." I answered quickly. "I'm about to go to Lebreau's and get breakfast."

"Alright. See you later."

I was the only other person there besides Lebreau. "Good morning, Lightning!" Lebreau greeted with unnatural sunny cheer in the early morning.

"You are much too happy." I stated outright, sitting myself on the stool as Lebreau laughed.

"Well, somebody has to be in high spirits during hard times." She said setting down a plate of eggs and bacon. She actually made it into a smiley face.

"Seriously?" I said looking down at the food. The dark haired cook only giggled setting down a cup of orange juice. I took a bite, thinking of the mission when I realized that Lebreau was watching me intensly. "Uh..."

"Sorry." Lebreau said, shaking her head, "didn't mean to stare. I was just thinking."

I swallowed the food already in my mouth. "About what?" I asked.

"I was really wrong about you, Lightning." She informed me, leaning against the counter, "I thought you were an uptight stiff."

I can only snort in amusement. Of course she thought that. I hadn't liked any of NORA, before I actually got to know them. "Would you get mad if I told you that I had thought you were an objectified female in NORA?"

"Nope. I've heard worse. Like how people think I'm a whore just because I wore short shorts and showed off my shoulders and a large amount of cleavage. You lived in Bodhum, it gets hot. But ever since I've started talking to you I realize you're kind of nice. And funny. And cute."

I stopped chewing, staring at her.

"Pause." She uttered as an afterthought.

"Huh?"

"I wasn't hitting on you." Lebreau explained.

"I did not say you were." I quickly backed myself up.

"But you had that look." Lebreau pointed out. She wasn't mad, in fact she looked amused. After a moment of silence I found myself laughing at myself, Lebreau joining me.

"Hello, Lebreau!" I heard Yuj announce barging in. "Oh hi, Lightning. I didn't know you were here."

"She came to see me!" The dark haired cook told him, oozing happiness.

Yuj snorted. "More like she came to visit your eggs. Pause."

"Why is everyone saying that?" I asked in confusion.

"So Lightning," Yuj continued, "you're a L'Cie again. Like fully. Can I see it?"

"My brand?" I figured.

"Show us your boobs!" Lebreau almost shouted in a deep voice and Yuj laughed along with her.

"You guys are so weird." I laughed, unzipping my turtleneck and allowing them to see the brand. It was somewhat hidden underneath my black sports bra that I had to pull it down a bit for them to see it better.

"Does it hurt?" Yuj asked.

I shook my head. "At first it did when I first got it. It stung for a day or two. And it kind of irritated me. Especially when it returned."

"Can I feel it?" Lebreau asked.

"Uh, okay..." I said in a slow tone. It wasn't like it was going to feel like anything. It was a part of my skin, like it had always been there.

"I thought L'Cie brands are black?" Yuj asked after Lebreau traced the lines.

"It was." I explained. "But once we decided our own fate it fizzled out and stopped progressing. If it still was, there would be more lines and the eye will begin to open up."

"And you become a Cieth." Lebreau finished.

I was reminded of my dream. "Yeah." I zipped my turtleneck back all the way up.

"And your eidolon is a pony?" Yuj asked, and the dark haired cook snorted.

I rolled my eyes, "A stallion."

Yuj just raised his arms in defense, "Why didn't Snow and the others get theirs?" Lebreau asked. "Did you do something different?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. I just summoned him and he came. When Snow and even Hope tried to do the same their Eidolons just didn't come out. I'm assuming they forgot how to summon."

After breakfast I headed for the Village Proper to talk to Amodar. Bartholomew and Rygdea were also already there, gathered in their usual circle. "Miss Farron, I am glad you came here." Hope's father said, standing up from his seat.

"Yes?" I said unsure.

"You are about to embark on another journey with my son in your care."

"Bartholomew, I promised him I was going to keep him safe." I told him.

"I know you will Miss Farron." Bartholomew said, patting me on my shoulders which kind of bewildered me for the moment. Why was he so nice to me now? I was sure the man hated my guts. "It's just not easy for a dad to see his son, his fourteen year old son, off to save the world. I am proud of him, I really am. But he's all I have left."

"And Serah is all I have left." I informed him.

He pushed up his glasses. "Yes." He sighed heavily, a very tired sigh. "It's not easy. Living like this. But what else can we do? Eighter fight or give up."

I didn't say anything. He eventually let go of me and walked by. I approached Amodar. "Lieutenant."

"Farron. Have a seat." Amodar offered. He gave Rygdea a glance, and the Calvary captain took the sign and left the two of us alone. I took the seat next to my superior, already having in mind what he wanted to talk about.

"How are your ribs, Lieutenant?" I asked politely. I had heard from Snow that outside of Cocoon he fractured four ribs.

Amodar looked at me with a furrowed eyebrow, having probably long forgotten his injury like I had. "Oh. Good as new. Hope took care of it."

"Of course he did." I said to myself with a smile.

"Farron." My superior spoke again in a low voice. "It's about Dajh."

"What happened was not your fault, sir."

"But it was. You didn't see what happened!" He almost yelled. "I tried to keep the boy away from a behemoth. A behemoth. I didn't see those men. They just came and..."

"Lieutenant, stop!" I exclaimed when Amodar began to shake.

"Garem..." I heard him mumble. His son's name. "Garem was eleven...Dajh is only six."

"Lieutenant, please!" I begged. "You have to control these emotions."

"I cannot, Farron!" He bellowed, throwing the table over, gaining everyone in the entire village's attention. "It was my fault! I was right there!" He screamed.

"Amodar! There was nothing you could do!"

"Bullshit! I failed! I failed as a protector! I failed as a soldier! As a father and a husband! I **failed**!"

"Amodar!" I heard Sazh's voice approaching us. I turned around and froze.

Standing next to him was Dajh...his eyes covered with a pair of black sunglasses, and one of Morrigan's tree branches in his right hand to guide him. Sazh was holding Dajh's left hand.

My blood ran cold seeing the six year old at a state like this. And Amodar even let out a startled gasp. "Mr. Lieutnenat sir." Dajh said, letting go of his father's hand and heading in our direction.

Amodar walked in front of the boy, kneeling. I could only watch silently. "Dajh. I...am so sorry, son."

"It's not your fault, sir." The six year old reassured, his hand finding it's way on top of my superior's head and patting it in a comforting way. "Please don't cry."

But instead, the Lieutenant did cry. Hard. Dajh wrapped his small arms around his neck, pulling him into a comforting hug. "I'm sorry about your family." He continued. "I can be your family. Sir."

I felt myself choking up at Dajh's bravery. He lost the will to see, but still was able to comfort others with a hug and a smile. Sazh smiled down at his son, proud. "I actually came to drop Dajh off. We're getting ready to go."

"So you are coming with us?" I asked for a confirmation. Sazh and Dajh both nodded.

"Lightning?" Dajh called for me and I hurried to his side, taking hold of his hand that he was reaching out. He smiled. "Lightning," this six year old assumed, "take care of daddy, okay?"

"I will Dajh. I promise." I said. He walked closer, hugging around my waist. I exchanged a look with Sazh who just smiled at us. When Dajh pulled away he walked back over to Amodar, taking his hand.

"Mr. Lieutnenant, sir." He began, "can you take me to the chocobo corral. I want to play with them."

Chocolina flew out of the boy's afro and the six year old giggled. "Chocolina wants to play with them too."

**General POV**

Rygdea was reading one of his 'special' magazines when he heard knocking coming from outside his airship. He quickly tossed the magazine aside, hiding the evidence. "Come in."

He was surprised to see Hope enter the airship. "Hi, Rygdea."

"Hey, kid. Did you need something?"

"No." The silver haired teenager said, looking around the airship bashfully for some reason. "I was just wondering if you were going to come with us."

"Nah." Rygdea said. "I was considering it. But it might take you a while to get to Eden."

"You want to see Ruby." Hope figured out, taking the seat next to Rygdea.

"Like crazy. And Harry. Hell, it would be alot easiar if we had enough electricity so I can call her. I should have left a walkie talkie. I want to know if she made it into the acting industry."

"Vayne said he'd give her whatever she wanted."

"Yeah, but he's lied about other things. What if he really did direct Serah's kidnapping, and Oerba's assault."

Hope remained silent. "He does need to answer some questions that's true. Ugh, it's the Sanctum all over again."

Rygdea looked behind Hope's back upon seeing Morrigan waddle by, a book in her hand. "Hey, look who's back. Where the hell have you been?"

The pregnant woman looked into the airship, slightly bewildered. "Who me?"

"_No, the book_. Yes, **you**. Where have you been? I haven't seen you at all since we got back."

"I was here." She said straightforwardly.

"I beg to differ. You've gone for a walk for like two days. You've been spendin' some time with Old Dalan or somethin'?"

"I needed time away." Morrigan entered the airship, angrily. "Is that such a crime."

"What book are you reading?" Hope asked curiously trying to see the front cover. She quickly hid it behind her back.

"Tis nothing." She lied.

"Is it porn?" Rygdea asked in a lewd tone.

Morrigan rolled her gold eyes. "Yes. This big brown book is pornography."

"Now I know you lyin'." The Calvary soldier said with a deadpan expression. "For all I know that is a book of spells, witch."

Slam! Hope jumped when Morrigan tossed the giant book like it weighed nothing in front of the fourteen year old. "You dare call me a witch!" She snapped, getting into Rygdea's face.

"Whoa, hey, hold your chocobos, lady."

While Morrigan was telling off the Calvary captain, Hope was quietly examined the front of the book. It was a gray book, and on the front was the same L'Cie symbol. The red eye in the center wide open.

Taken in by the ominous item Hope reached out to touch the front cover, until Morrigan quickly slapped his hand like a mother would her son who was reaching for a cookie before dinner. "Ow!" Hope whimpered as Morrigan snatchd the book and fled the airship.

"Geez, that woman is full of secrets." Rygdea commented. "Anyways Hope, you want to see a nice set of...Hope?" The Calvary captain had only turned a second to retrieve his dirty magazine and the silver haired teenager was already gone.

Hope had rushed out of the airship, having gone after Morrigan to confront her about the book. But she was already gone. He was about to head to her house when his father found him. "There you are." Bartholomew said. "You're about to leave, and I wanted to see you off."

The teenager only nodded distractedly, staring at Morrigan's hut.

"Hope?" The silver haired kid looked up at his father who was looking down at him worriedly. "Is something the matte? You look lost."

"Uh..." Hope debated for a moment whether to tell his father about Morrigan. "Nothing. It's nothing I just...so, what is it?"

**Lightning's POV**

I was checking over my supplies in Cloud and I's room. My roommate was watching me from his bed. I then heard somebody else enter and Terra flew into the room. "Oh good, you didn't leave yet." The thirty four year old said.

"I was just about." I said.

"I wanted to see you off." She explained.

"Why don't you go with them, Terra?" Cloud asked curious, "you're a L'Cie too."

"I don't have the same Focus as they do. My focus was a lost cause...a long time ago."

"But we will still need some help." I said.

Terra smiled, "My place is here. If I leave who will teach the kids? Laguna?"

"I suppose." I was surprised when the older yet small woman suddenly pulled me into a hug.

"I hope you all come back, your Focus complete." Terra whispered.

I couldn't help but smile at her soft words. Cloud cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, do you want me to leave and give you girls some privacy?"

Terra pulled away, giggling. "No, we're done." She said, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"We'll see you off." Cloud offered, following us out of the house. Everybody else was waiting for us by Sazh's aiship. I followed after.

**General POV**

Tifa saw the exchange between Cloud and Lightning. She figured that he'd try and move on with somebody else. And of course it was going to be with somebody exactly like him. Terra stood closely beside him, waving at the retreating airship.

When the L'Cie and NORA disappeared, everybody returned back to what they were doing previously. Terra noticed Vaan approach her and she was about to actually make a run for it. "Wait! Terra! Hold on."

She didn't say anything, and just waited expectantly.

Vaan sighed. "I'm sorry. Okay. I didn't mean to upset you yesterday."

Terra was actually surprised by Vaan's sincere apology. And it only made everything worse for her. She only nodded spinning on her heel and walking off quickly. The younger man stared after her confused. "She hates me." He concluded.

But that was far from what it was. In fact, after that apology, Terra began liking Vaan even more.

Yes, Terra did like Vaan. He was sweet to her and always made her laugh. She was also very comfortable around him.

Too comfortable. This was not safe territory. Terra had swore to never grow close to others. Of course she was good friends with Lightning and Lebreau. But they were just her friends. If she pursued a relationship with Vaan...or anybody for that matter.

She didn't dwell on it. She just kept walking, keeping a smile on her face.

**Lightning's POV**

The airship was filled with Maqui's rambling about some sort of technological thing. Poor Hope was actually falling asleep from it, since he was his target audience. "Hope, your not even listening, man."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Hope apologized, trying to appear like he wasn't nodding off. "Do go on."

Gadot was pleading Snow for his job back, and it was now visible how annoyed the large man was getting. He was now not responding to him.

"I'm starting to regret bringing them." I admitted to Sazh. He chuckled.

"They aren't that bad. A little rowdy. But they are some nice folks."

"Hey!" Lebreau said, wedging inbetween Sazh and I. "So where to?" She asked.

"The Vile Peaks, I believe." I answered.

"Everybody get ready," Sazh announced to the rest of the guys in the back. "We're about to hit some turbulence."

The airship shook as we entered Cocoon.

**AN: I wasn't planning to bring NORA at first. But they are just some of the most fun characters to write. So why not? I also have specific story arcs for them during the adventure. So...tune in for chapter 17.**

**What to expect next chapter? I want to say insane doctors and another appearance from Fang and Vanille.**


	17. Chaos Infusion

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warnings: This chapter got pretty dark. And has alot of violence, blood, gore, and disturbing things. There is a slight sexual theme (but it's more funny)**

**Lightning's POV**

Sazh, like always was able to get us through to Cocoon. "Home sweet home." He said with a laugh.

But our happiness was short lived by the sound of a sinister laugh, it sounded familiar to what we had experience in Eden. "It's the chaos!" Snow exclaimed.

The airship grew dark as the chaos swallowed us up once more. "**L'Cie**." The booming voice said. "**You are mine**."

Everything shook, and I found Lebreau gripping onto my shoulder as we were all rattled around like rag dolls in a dollhouse. "Ugh!" Sazh grunted, "I don't like this!"

The Chaos laughed sinisterly, red flashes lighting up intensely and I can briefly see the jumble mess in the back as most of the guys got tangled up within themselves. "What do we do?" Hope asked, fear in his voice.

"Can we jump for it?" Gadot asked, and a sudden jolt had Gadot suddenly yank Lebreau back into the throng of guys. Me and Sazh gripped tightly to the front but a loud and deep bass sound resonated in our ear drums and when we tried to cover our ears, we were pushed forward, I could feel somebody hitting my back.

"Ow! My neck!" Snow hollered.

"Where's your neckbrace!?" Hope asked, his voice close to my ear.

"I...didn't bring it."

"You what!" Lebreau screeched. Another jolt and Sazh and I were thrown back, and I hit my head against Snow's hard skull.

"Didn't I tell you to bring it!" Hope continued to lecture, "you never listen!"

"Hey, mama Estheim," Yuj suddenly intervened, "I don't think this is a right time for a-whoa!" Another jolt to the right, "-lecture..."

Suddenly the power in the airship began shutting off, and the black cloud of chaos began to uncloak. Maqui's eyes widened, looking out the window. "Oh..." he whimpered, paling.

Hope and I looked in the opening and saw that we were still way up, and suddenly we were plummeting. We screamed. "Sazh!" I barked at the dark skinned man, who seemingly disappeared within the crowd, "get us back airbourne!"

But our pilot was smothered and squashed between Snow and Gadot. Lebreau pulled herself away from Gadot and managed to throw herself in the pilot seat. She tried pressing the buttons. "Nothing's working! Maqui!"

The seventeen year old scooted by Hope and I and we were beginning to feel the airship falling faster and faster. Maqui managed to get the airship to turn back on right when we were about to fall. He pulled up quickly, but we still crashed into the ground.

Of course it could have been alot worse. I suddenly felt myself thrown back, hitting my head on something hard again. Particularly onto somebody. I assumed it to be Yuj, especially when he protectively wrapped his slender arms around my waist.

We all stayed still for a long moment, expecting chaos to take over once more. But only silence followed. I unwrapped myself from Yuj, who groaned in pain. Sazh let out a sharp breath, having been almost crushed by our largest team members.

"Ow...my neck..." Snow cried.

Hope stared out the window. "Where...are we?"

Maqui quickly pushed himself off of Lebreau, seeming dazed after our shakedown. He threw himself out the door, and I realized it was dark out. I stepped over a dazed Gadot and exited the airship.

I wanted to say we were in the Vile Peaks, that's the place I had in mind. But it looked more like we were near a town. We were just outside, and across from us was a tall building. A chaos cloud swirling above it.

Everyone followed out and Snow was gripping his neck in pain. Hope sent some healing spells his way and the large man sighed, feeling better. "You still should have brought your neckbrace." Hope informed him.

"There's a hospital right there." Gadot said, pointing at the tall building.

"I don't think it's safe." Yuj said. "There's like a cloud of doom looming over it."

"_Chaos is inside._" I heard Odin echo inside me. My Eidolon rarely speaks, not like the Shiva Sisters and Brynhildr. During our L'Cie adventures I would often see my fellow comrades speaking to themselves, having a conversation with their Guardians.

But Odin was never one for words. Of course, if and eidolon tells you your enemy is hiding out in an ominous hospital...I approached the building.

Nobody else, not even NORA questioned it and followed me inside. As soon as we entered, a frightened, scrawny, young man wearing a hospital gown was fleeing. He stared up at us in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "Did you not see the Chaos surrounding the building?"

"Chaos is here isn't he?" I asked.

The man looked shocked, but stood up straight, clearing his throat. "Yes. That's why I'm getting my ass out of here before he comes for me. And I suggest you do the same."

"We came to help." Snow said.

The patient didn't look convinced. "Help? We don't need help. We need to escape! We need Cosmos! But nobody has seen her since what happened in Eden."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Cosmos is gone?" Maqui asked.

The man shrugged. "Hell should I know. Nobody has seen her. She may have been defeated by Chaos. He's too powerful." Before I could question him some more, the weak patient stumbled passed me muttering something about his hunger, then promptly fell upon Lebreau's breasts. "Food." He muttered again, his words muffled.

"Uh..." Hope trailed off awkwardly as Lebreau looked at us with an unamused expression.

The dark haired woman calmly pushed the staggering man off of her.

"You want me to take him to the airship?" Gadot asked.

"Uh, I guess..." Sazh said in a bewildered tone. "I'm not too sure on what to do with him, but we can't just leave him out there for Chaos."

The large dark skinned man took the patient away from the disgusted Lebreau and carried him quickly back to the airship. He hustled back, staring upward in case Chaos came back for him. He let out a sigh of relief.

We entered the waiting room, where only a handful of doctors and twice as many patients scattered about. I saw the barricade on the other doors, whatever good that would do them. One of the patients saw us enter and exclaimed, "how did they get in! Their going to kill us all!"

"They have guns!"

"Wait!" Hope shouted, arms up, "It's okay. We're not here to hurt you."

"We actually came to save you all." Lebreau added.

"Save us?" A doctor questioned, approaching us as his patient glared at us menancingly. "How can a group of mercenaries help us?"

"We ain't mercenaries. We're L'Cie." Sazh announced, showing them his brand.

"L'Cie? Are you the same L'Cie who caused Cocoon to fall?"

"I lost my entire family because of that!" One doctor spat angrily, throwing something across the room.

"We can dwell on the past later." I said, narrowing my eyes. "Right now I assume you got bigger problems."

"Lucky for you," Lebreau added, "we are after Chaos. We can get him out of your hair for you."

"Chaos is not a simple baddie that you can shoot down with a gun." The first doctor informed us, "he's a monster."

"We know monsters." Snow said, pumping his fist.

"We don't have another choice," a female doctor said. "There's no way we can get these patients out, and there are still more within. Trapped."

The first doctor tightened his lips, considering it for a moment. "Fine. But don't hold your breath."

"Remove the barricade." The female doctor ordered.

Two more doctors looked at each other in hesitation before making their way to the barricades and removing them. "Hurry! We don't want anyone or anything coming out."

Not too sure what exactly they were talking about, we entered anyway, and they closed the door behind us. There was no turning back now.

The lights flickered, and you can sense dangerous vibes within. "It's like playing a scary maze game." Maqui mentioned, keeping his gun cocked in case he had to shoot down any bad guys.

Lebreau gasped when we felt the building shake for a moment like it was quaking. "You think Chaos might try to knock the building over?"

"No." Snow said, "I think he wants us to go to him. Probably waiting for us."

"You think that's why he attacked our airship?" Sazh asked.

"He did say 'L'Cie.' " I dropped my voice imitating Chaos's thundering one. " 'You are mine.' "

"I hope this adventure doesn't stop before we get started." Yuj hoped, flipping his feathery hair out of his eyes.

We checked each room, in search of anyone who needs rescuing. When we finally made it down the hall, we entered a room where a few children and teenagers were gathered around. A Chaos knight was approaching them with a sword and they continued to cower in fear.

Lebreau reacted by running in front and shooting at the knight. He turned around, the bullets richocheting off his armor and he quickly approached her, punching her with his armored hand and knocking her out cold.

"Lebreau!" Gadot cried out loud. "You'll pay for that!" The large dark skinned man let out a battle cry and ripped the helmet off the knight. Yuj shot him in the head.

One of the girl teenagers screamed in fear while her friends comforted her, including a teenage boy. The kids began to cry, not because of the violence, but because they were so close to getting killed themselves.

Hope scurried to Lebreau's side, healing and coaxing her awake. I hovered over her while Gadot scooped her up into his arms, helping in waking her up. Snow and the others went to console the children and teenagers. "Lebreau. Come on, girl, wake up. Don't do this." Gadot begged.

"Lebreau?" I tried, feeling for a pulse. It was very weak. "Lebreau?"

"Come on. Wake up." Hope continued to heal her.

"Come on, girl," Gadot tried again. Suddenly Lebreau's eyes snapped opened and she inhaled sharply and coughed. I let out a sigh of relief and Gadot hugged the woman in his arms.

"You okay?" Hope asked as Lebreau tried to get a grasp of her surroudings.

"Uh...yeah. I think so." Lebreau sighed, letting Gadot and I help her to her feet. She teetered for a moment, but she seemed capable of fighting still.

"That was so scary!" I heard the teenage girl that screamed and cried, clinging onto Maqui (who seemed quite pleased by the attention).

"What are you doing here?" I asked, the teenagers weren't wearing the patient garb.

"We're students." A teenage boy said, "we were doing community service by reading to the sick children."

"But then the sky got dark and this monster took over the hospital." Another teenage girl explain.

"What did he look like?" Sazh asked.

"He was big," A little boy explained, "and had brown skin, with wings and horns."

"That's probably Chaos." Maqui said as the teenage boy pulled the girl clinging to Maqui off of him in a jealous manner.

"Stay here." I ordered, "we'll make sure no more of those knights comes after you." I couldn't promise them about the Chaos himself.

"You can't just leave us here!" The first teenage girl cried, "we could die."

"Just watch over the kids." Hope told her.

She stared him in disblief, "forget the children, what about us!?"

Yuj and Lebreau rolled their eyes, I didn't say anything further. We approached the elevator, testing to see if it worked. "Elevators are a bad idea." I gathered. "Do you have a staircase?"

"I don't know." The teenage boy said in an exasperated tone. "I didn't even know we used staircases anymore."

"There's a picture of a staircase on the door over there." A little girl shyly pointed at the door on the far right.

The children were smarter than the teenagers. I nodded to the little girl and led the group. "Lebreau, you sure you're up for battle?" I asked.

"Please," She muttered, reloading her rifle. "Takes alot more than that to knock me down."

"Don't challenge the Chaos." Sazh informed her, as we entered the staircase.

While climbing the steps we heard screaming coming from one of the floors. "Help!" A man screamed. We hurried our pace and kicked open the door.

A female doctor was pushing a cart, and upon seeing us she pushed the cart in our direction fleeing into one of the rooms. "Stop her!" I ordered.

Snow pushed the cart over, a black substance spilling out of a bottle. "What is that?" Hope asked in disgust as the black substance spreaded out towards our feet.

"Don't step in it." I said, and we all quickly scooted around it. Snow wiggled the doorknob to the room that the doctor fled to.

"Help u-agh!" I heard that same man holler then get prompty shut off in pain.

Snow backed up and rammed the door down with his shoulder. The female doctor was hiding in the far back, and we can see patients strapped to their beds, mouths gagged. The patient closest to her had a syringe sticking out of his throat. His eyes wide and mouth agape in shock.

Black liquid was dripping out of the syringe and leaking out through his eyes. It was sick. Then that woman in terror pulled out a gun and tried shooting at us, crying. Snow ducked and Sazh pulled out his gun and shot it out of her hand.

She ducked to the ground, trying to kick the hospital beds toward us. Snow stopped them and Gadot quickly went after the woman. She tried crawling underneath the hospital beds but Gadot pushed it back and caught her legs, dragging her back out.

She screamed and I aimed my gun at her. "Stop! Please! Don't hurt me!"

"Like how you hurt your patients?" Maqui asked.

"Why are you doing this?" Hope asked.

"I-I didn't want to do this. C-Chaos told me to. He told me he had to or-or-," She kept sniffling, "He'd kill me..." The female doctor sobbed the last part out.

"You mean Chaos?" Lebreau asked. "Is that what this black stuff is?"

"Chaos...in it's liquidfied form." The female doctor continued to inform us. "Used to infuse people with chaos."

"What happens when..." I didn't have time to finish as the supposedly dead patient that the doctor killed began to react violently. Shaking, eyes rolled back and black liquid bubbling up in his mouth. He gargled and screamed and continud to wretch and react.

The doctor screamed trying to run while we were being distracted, but Snow grabbed her, making her scream even louder. "No! No!" She continued to try and shake Snow off him but he kept a firm hold on her.

"What should we do with her, Lightning?" Gadot asked.

"I don't want to die!" The woman continued to sob. "Let me go!"

The patient got free of his restraints, his eyes on the female doctor. "_**You did this to me**_..." his voice was alien like and he clambered off like an animal.

The female doctor screamed, still trying to free herself from Snow. I shot the Chaos infused man, but it did nothing, he just stopped for a moment, but continued to stagger towards the doctor, ready for a feeding.

Sazh casted a fire magic and the Chaos infused man just dropped to his knees, crying in pain. He reached his arm out and the woman's eyes increased in size, and she still continued to scream. It was getting on my nerves.

Snow shielded the woman protectively and casted ice magic, freezing the flames over and the chaos infused man himself. Lebreau shot the frozen being and it's shards shattered everywhere like broken glass.

Some of the liquidified chaos got on us too and we tried to get off as much as we can. Hope casted a water magic rinsing us off as much chaos as possible.

"Will this harm us?" I asked, examining some black stains on our clothes. They were small but still...

She just stared at us in shock. "You...you're L'Cie..." She said slowly. "Let...me go...Let me go! Let me go! AHH!" She continued screaming.

"Somebody shut this bitch up!" Yuj complained.

Snow, having had enough of this woman's infernal screeching bopped her on the head quickly and she instantly shut up and fell unconcious.

"Dear Etro..." Lebreau sighed in relief shaking her head.

Maqui and Yuj freed the other patients tied to their beds.

"There's another doctor." One of the older patients informed us. "He's been killing off other patients. He's just as squirrely as that girl there."

"We'll take care of him." I told him.

"Wait," an older woman said hesitantly. "What about her?" She pointed towards the screaming female doctor who laid unconcious on the ground. "Do we take her with us."

"That's up to you." I told her as we all filed out of the dark room.

We retreated back to the staircase, the patients going down as we went up. "Why do you think Chaos is forcing these doctors to infuse the patients with Chaos?" Hope asked.

"Build a stronger army, I'm sure." I said. "You've seen people like Jeremy, they are pretty much useless."

"But they look like mindless monsters. That want to eat people." Maqui said.

"How are we supposed to fight Chaos?" Snow asked. "What if we get possessed like that Primarch knight that shot me and Sis?"

"What if Chaos already has an army of infused Chaos waiting for us." Gadot also pointed out. "Not all of us can use magic. And it seems like our guns are useless."

"Yeah," Yuj added, "it took L'Cie magic to take out one of those things."

"We should have gotten our hands on some manadrives before we left." Maqui muttered. "It's technology that can recreate elemental magic. Not as strong as L'Cie magic, but not every bad guy can be taken down with a bullet to the head."

"Should we go back?" Sazh asked, having doubts.

"It's too late to go back." I said, "there's people who are expecting the Chaos to be gone the next time we go down. They were already too nervous to let us in. They are not about to let us out."

"Is this where the head's office is located?" Snow asked.

We exited the staircase, the only light coming from a single flickering light in the hallways, and a white glow underneath a door to the right. You can hear shuffling about inside and somebody muttering.

The hallway was littered with glass and blood. A few dead bodies littered about. I glanced down at Hope who swallowed hard, keeping his eyes off the blood and gore. I squeezed his shoulder in reassurance.

Snow and Gadot stayed in front and Snow counted down to three. Surprisingly, the door wasn't locked. Inside was a very old man with crazy gray hair hunched over, scrubbing a pristine white table. Everything inside was white, like nothing had been touched.

The man was mumbling to himself in a nervous voice, stuttering. Sazh raised his guns and cocked his head, gesturing me to speak. I cleared my throat. The man stopped muttering and turned to us sharply. "Who are you!? How did you get in here? Do you work for him?"

"What's going on here?" I asked, "why are you infusing your patients with the Chaos? What does Chaos need them for?"

The man shuddered and shrugged. "I don't know. He just told us...just told us he needed them. Needed you. I had to do it..."

"Where is he?" I asked.

"The top floor..." The doctor then turned back around, approaching the sink and washed his hands, humming a haunting melody. We all backed away slowly and shut the door behind us.

"I think that went rather well." Snow said in a much too chipper tone.

Boom!

The entire corridor was shrouded in a thick chaos smoke. We coughed and gagged and tried desperately not to inhale the toxic air. Hope was the first the fall, then Maqui.

"We gotta...get..." Lebreau tried to get out, but she just as quickly fainted from the inhalation.

My head began to swim and my vision clouded, and the next thing I knew everything was black and I fell as well.

_My alarm erupted to life, pulling me out of my sleep. I groggily felt around for the device, finding the off button, silencing it. I removed the pillow from my face, having been smothering myself after a restless sleep._

_My calendar, which was much too far away for anyone else to see, but I didn't need it to know that today was circled in red marker, stating that today was the day, my little sister was getting married._

_I was supposed to head over to Lebreau's bar and help Serah get into her dress, as well as all the other brides maids. I was the Maid of Honor. It was more convenient since Serah had wanted to get married on the beach._

_I took my morning shower, brushed my teeth, and threw on a red and white one piece swimming suit, throwing a t-shirt and sweats over it since I was just about to change into my dress anyway. I tied my hair up in a sloppy ponytail to the side, and slipped on sneakers, heading out the door._

_I pulled up by the beach and hurried to the bar. The first person I saw was Lebreau, followed by two women that were no doubt Serah's friends. They had a strange appearance to them, like they weren't from Bodhum. And they were staring straight at me like they knew me. I ignored them. "Where's my sister?" I asked the dark haired cook._

_Lebreau just eyed me, obviously not liking me. I wasn't fond of her, the rest of her group, or Serah's groom, so I wasn't taken aback by her behavior. "She's in the back gettin' changed."_

_She offered me a glass of alcohol, like she knew I would need it. I just rose an eyebrow at her._

_"It's free." She said, pushing it closer to me._

_I accepted the glass and downed it in one gulp. I then made my way to the back of the bar where Serah was struggling into her dress. "Oh, Claire! I'm so glad you are here!" She turned around, crying hysterically and waving her arms about._

_"Hey, why are you crying?" I asked, pulling her into my arms, patting her hair that was already pinned up. "Today was supposed to be a happy day."_

_"I don't know if I can do this!" She hiccuped, it reminded me too much of how she used to cry when she was a kid. "I-I-I feel like I c-can't breathe..." She whimpered and hid her face on my shoulder. I rubbed her back._

_"Hey, stop." I whispered to her, "there's no need to cry." I took a few steps back to evaluate her wedding dress. It was tight on top, making a v-shape. Then when it got to her mid thigh it expanded into decorative white lace down to her ankles. The curls in her hair criss crossed all through out her hair, and she was already wearing her veil._

_Her make up wasn't done yet, (luckily because she would have ruined that with her crying). And she had on small open toed white high heels. "You look beautiful." I whispered._

_She smiled through her tears and hugged me again. "Okay," I heard Lebreau suddenly interupt our sisterly moment. "Your friend wants to do your make up. Er, what's your name again?"_

_"Vanille," the strange red head answered. She was already in her bridesmaid dress. She, her other friend, and Lebreau were wearing a matching pink halter dress that came up to mid thigh, strapped criss crossing around their necks. Their hair (except for Lebreau's who's hair was too short to do the style had to just pin it to the side) was in a side bun, some strands coming out. Their shoes were small pink high heeled boots._

_"Okay, Vanille, she's all yours. Wipe up her tears too! Uh..." she glanced at the tan woman next to her._

_"Fang." The taller woman answered, glancing at me._

_"Fang, can you help Serah's sister into her dress. Be careful..."_

_I narrowed my eyes at Lebreau and her warning. When me and the taller woman, Fang entered the dressing room, and I had already slipped into the ligh pink and regular pink dress that criss crossed over my breasts, the skirt at knee length, except for the front, which was open up to my upper thigh. I also wore pink heels._

_When Fang was zipping up the back, she whispered, "This is a dream, Farron."_

_I looked back at the woman perplexed by her statement. "What?"_

_"You need to snap out of it. The Chaos has taken over you and your friends. He's trapping you in a dreamworld where the Fal'Cie and L'Cie never existed. it's like the Purge and being a L'Cie never happened."_

_I pulled away harshly from the strange woman. "What are you talking about?" I asked, about ready to bolt._

_"Girl, Vanille and I had to force our way into all four of your self conciousness just to save your ass from becoming a Chaos zombie thing." She barked impatiently._

_I shook my head at the woman. "I don't know who you are and what game you are playing. This is my sister's wedding day. Do not ruin it with your nonsense."_

_I was about to exit the dressing room, when she grabbed my arm. Trying to shake her off me she threw me towards the far wall away from the door, pinning me there and covering my mouth. I tried to push her off. "I know it does sound far fetched, but we don't have much time! We have to get Snow, and Sazh and Hope and high tail out of this dimension!"_

_Sazh? Hope? Who the hell were those people? And why would I want to take Snow anywhere? I kicked her off, exiting the dressing room. The redhead girl stare at me expectantly. Serah looked back as well, her make up done right. "You look amazing, Serah."_

_She let out a shaky breath. "Serah, don't cry now." Lebreau lectured. "It's time."_

_We all got to the beach, Serah's face covered by her veil. Lebreau led Fang and Vanille down the aisle first. I followed after they took their places, feeling awkward around these strangers. Then Serah was escorted by Amodar since our father wasn't around to walk her down the aisle._

_The priest gave the whole speech about marriage and I noticed Fang and Vanille rudely conversing in the back. They kept glancing at me and Snow. Now was not the time. And I was about to tell them off when suddenly the girls left their positions and pulled out weapons._

_Serah screamed and the priest stared in surprise. "What is this?"_

_"Lightning! Snow!" Vanille cried, "this is a dream! This isn't real!"_

_"What are you talking about?" Snow asked, and I was about to fight them off, but I didn't have my gunblade with me. And they had their weapons._

_"The Chaos has your minds captive. Not only you but two more of our friends as well." Vanille continued._

_"These people are not real! They are figments of chaos!" Fang tried to persuade._

_Serah stared up at us in fright. "They're scaring me!"_

_Suddenly, the tan woman, Fang stabbed my sister with her spear. "__**No**__!" Snow screamd as Serah laid crumpled in his arms._

_"Why you-" I was about to kill this woman, when something weird happened to Serah's body. She started shaking and a black smoke oozed out of her body. I was then reminded of the man in the hospital-_

_Hospital? Everything rushed back to me._

_Everything!_

_Snow stepped back as the Serah arched her back and cried out in pain. She then stood up, nothing more than a chaos husk. And so were others._

_Fang and Vanille's brands glowed and a light aura resonated throughout the rest of their body including their weapons. Fang was purple while Vanille was orange. By themselves they took on the Chaos swarms._

_Once that was finished, the clear Bodhum sky turned a dark fiery red. "We're running out of time." Vanille informed us. "Snow, come with me! We gotta go get Sazh!"_

_"And we'll get the kid." Fang informed me. "It'll go quicker."_

_"Do you even know where they are?" Snow asked, still trying to take in everything._

_"Sazh is here, Hope's in PalumPolum!" Vanille quickly explained, grabbing Snow's hand. "Come on!" And the two set off in a different direction._

_"We have to go all the way to PalumPolum?" I asked. Were we going to have enough time?_

_"That's why we gotta hustle!" Fang and I began running, and almost at the same time looked at our get up. We're about to run and fight in bridesmaid dresses and heels._

_"Right." I muttered._

_"Well, at least we look hot."_

**General POV**

**Gran Pulse**

That afternoon, Terra came to Vaan, apologizing for her sudden distance towards him. The younger man was plesantly surprised that Terra had indeed felt bad for leaving him like that without an explanation. To make it up to him, since the school day was over, she helped him at Lenora's Garage.

Vaan and Reks were running things while NORA were gone. And they were pretty sure that Bartholomew was making Vera work in Yuj's Outfitters. Not that the store was any useful without the fashionista there, since he knew fashion.

Vera thinks she does, but she wasn't the type to cater to other people's needs like Yuj did. So she just tried on clothes. But people were frequently visiting the Garage. It was actually surprising how much things people needed.

"We need a television again." Reks commented.

"And a computer." Vaan added.

"Don't forget a phone." Terra also commented, reorganizing the stock for the upteenth time.

Since Terra was out of earshot, Reks whispered to Vaan, "so, what's your next step."

"I'm not doing this anymore, Reks." Vaan informed him, "Terra's a good person. I don't want to put her on the spot."

"So you don't like her no more?"

"No, I do. Like alot. Enough to give her space."

Vaan's older brother snorted at his reasoning, "please, I can't believe your quitting. She's just playing hard to get. It's hot."

"Reks, I'm serious. I think we should leave her be. She doesn't want a relationship."

"I wasn't asking for a relationship."

Vaan froze. "Um, Vaan." He looked up when Cloud spoke up, the next person in line. "The manadrive?"

"What do you mean you aren't asking for a relationship?" Vaan asked loudly, gaining everyone's attention including Terra's.

"We don't have to be a couple." Reks explained.

"So you just want to sleep with her-"

"Vaan." Terra tried to keep the younger brother from pummeling his elder one. He looked down at the smaller but older woman, instantly relaxing.

"Can anyone please give me a manadrive." Cloud repeated loudly and impatiently.

Terra handed him the device with a smile.

**? - Hospital**

Lebreau was the first to wake up. The Chaos having been cleared up. The room where the doctor was was gone and her friends were crowded around her, still asleep.

But specific people were gone. "Maqui!" She shook the younger member curled up in front of her, "Yuj!" she smacked the blue haired man's head and she quickly stood up on his feet. "Gadot!" She kicked him in the stomach making him sit up abruptly.

"What happened?" Maqui asked, fixing the goggles on the top of his head.

"Snow and the others!" Lebreau explained. "They're gone!"

"Where they at?" Yuj asked.

"I don't know! We gotta go save them!"

"Boss!" Gadot exclaimed in a panic.

"Hey, second in command!" Lebreau smacked the back of Gadot's head. "You're supposed to be leading **us**, not crying for your mommy."

"I ain't cryin'." Gadot muttered. "But I don't know what we're supposed to do or where to go?"

"Ugh. We're doomed."

**Gran Pulse**

Everybody was training under Amodar's supervision. Dajh sat at the Village Proper, Chocolina in his hands. Ainu and Marlene sat with him, asking questions out of genuine childlike curiousity. "So you can't see anything?" Ainu asked and Marlene elbowed him. "Ow!"

"No." Dajh explained, "everything's dark."

"Is it scary?" Marlene asked.

"It was at first. But then I heard Daddy's voice." The six year old quickly changed the subject, "do you want to play with the other chocobos when the training is over?" He asked.

Rygdea had skipped training and was asleep in his airship. And was having a very..._great_ dream about Ruby. Morrigan had been walking by and saw the man's...result of his sleep. Feeling still unsatisifed at the man referring to her as a witch, she entered the airship and picked up one of Rygdea's novels.

She then dropped the book onto Rygdea's potruding erection.

His cry could be heard outside of the airship, and the pregnant woman exited the airship with a wicked smile on her face, rubbing her baby bump.

Yuna had to sit out since she was still in her sling. Tidus doted on his wife, expecting her to have a fear of gunshots. But she had insisted on sitting front row and watching people like Laguna shoot out.

Tidus felt guilty for what had happened to Yuna. If he had just stayed behind with her and Ainu, he would be the one in the sling not her. His wife noticed her husband's silence. "You look sad?" She asked.

"Yeah, maybe."

She pushed the corners of his mouth in a smile, making the blitzball player laugh. She then leaned in and kissed him lovingly.

_**Dreamworld**_

_Snow followed Vanille to a small town that was really close to Bodhum, almost connected. "Uh, you sure this is where Sazh is?" he asked her._

_"Uh-huh." She answered in her usual chipper voice. She continued her humming._

_"You know, I just realized something."_

_"Hm?" She hummed, looking back at the much larger man. She hadn't let go of his hand since they set off. _

_"We didn't talk that much during our L'Cie adventures." Snow explained, "I'm kind of regretting never being given the chance."_

_She stopped walking and let go of his hand. She giggled looking up at him, "well, here we are now."_

_He laughed, realizing that they are interacting. On borrowed time, but still. "How did you know we would need your help?" He asked._

_She skipped on ahead and Snow had to jog to keep up with the hyperactive girl. "Fang and I have been watching over you ever since we entered crystal stasis. When we saw what happened, Fang went into action. Of course I followed her."_

_"Was it hard?" Snow asked._

_"Um...sort of." She said, cocking her head to the side and pulled up her halter dress that was slipping down. "We didn't know how to do it. But once we figured it out, poof!" She giggled and Snow couldn't help but smile._

_You just couldn't help it with Vanille. She was always so cheerful no matter the situation. Snow then saw an infused chaos figure approaching Vanille. She quickly drew her net rod and instead of just capturing it, she lit up and the net sliced through the figure._

_Snow stared in awe. "Do you have special powers too? Those things were hard to take down."_

_"Before we get out of here, we'll teach you how." Vanille informed him. "There! That's Sazh's house!"_

_The two rushed over and Vanille knocked on the door. A dark skinned woman answered. "Yes, can I help you two?"_

_"Uh, hi." Snow greeted. "We're friends of Sazh. Is he home?"_

_The woman looked perplexed by Snow and Vanille's appearance. "Are you going to a wedding?" She asked, reffering to their clothes._

_Vanille giggled, "yeah, we just got married!"_

_"What?"_

_"We're about to leave for our honeymoon and wanted to share the good news."_

_Snow was confused by Vanille's elaborate lie. "How do you know him?" The woman asked._

_"Uh...we work with him. In the airship-"_

_"Felicia, who's at the door?" Sazh's familiar voice asked, opening the door all the way. He didn't seem to recognize eighter Snow or Vanille. "Can I help you?"_

_Felicia looked at Snow and Vanille in unamusement, clearly Sazh didn't recognize the two. Vanille giggled. "Oh, Sazh. Always so formal with us."_

_Sazh just stared at the redhead in confusion. "Uh, do I know you?"_

_Vanille giggled even harder, and since Vanille was so contagious, Sazh laughed along with her, Snow joined in not knowing what else to do. "Aw, you are so funny. Isn't he funny, dear?"_

_Snow continud to laugh awkwardly. "Yeah, he's funny, er, babe?"_

_"They say they work with you." Felicia explained._

_"Oh...right..." Sazh said slowly. He obviously didn't recognize them, but not wanting to be rude played along. "How are you?"_

_"We just got married." Snow informed him, going along with Vanille's lie._

_"Oh, well congradulations."_

_"We actually wanted to show you something. You mind coming outside, Sazh?" Vanille said. The dark skinned man informed Felicia to stay with Dajh inside and the three of them circled Sazh's small house._

_"Alright, what are you kids up to?" Sazh asked, clearly seeing through the charade, "if you are here to take me back to the military-"_

_"We're not with the military." Snow informed, "we're your friends."_

_"You're not going to believe this, Sazh, but you are going to have to trust us." Vanille took a deep breath. "You are in a dreamworld after this cloud of black smoke called chaos entered your minds. They are trying to keep you in this paradise but it's actually more like a limbo so they can infuse you and our other friends with chaos and destroy the world. In real life we became these things called L'Cie who are slaves of a fal'cie. Me and my girlfriend Fang sacrificed our lives so your son can be free. And now you are on another focus and now your trapped."_

_Sazh just stared at her, blinking. "Slaves of a what?"_

_Felicia then exited the house with Dajh, "What's going on?" She asked._

_"They're trying to pull Sazh back in," Vanille whispered to Snow. "take Sazh's gun in his holster."_

_Snow glanced over at Sazh's pants, the man not paying attention. Snow quickly snatched the gun out and shot Felicia. Dajh gasped in surprise and Sazh's eyes widened._

_Like Serah, chaos began to erupt out of Felicia's body, and shortly after the same thing happened to Dajh. Sazh, regaining his memories took the gun back from Snow and drew his second one. Snow and Vanille also got into position._

_Vanille casted a spell on Snow and Sazh making them and their weapons glow blue and green respectively. Orange glowed around Vanille. The smaller figure jumped towards Snow and his hand went right through it's face, making him scream and explode, chaos spraying everywhere._

_Sazh shot down the taller more slender figure, the same thing happening._

_"Don't worry about the chaos." Vanille informed Sazh and Snow. "It won't affect you unless you eat it or something."_

_"Vanille..." Sazh said, having finally registered that the girl was standing right next to him._

_Vanille giggled and pulled Sazh into a hug._

**Gran Pulse**

Terra and Vaan trained together. It was the older woman who asked Vaan, which surprised him. Reks saw this, figuring that it was all part of Vaan' plan. He interrupted their training. "Hey, Terra, do you mind if I train with Vaan?"

She shrugged, "okay. I'll see if Squall wants to duel."

"Uh, I think he's with Cloud." Reks quickly said, "come on, Terra, you can watch us."

She crossed her arms, "I don't want to watch you two duel. I want to duel myself."

Vaan was about to respond but Reks already attacked first. Vaan blocked the attack. Vera came up beside Terra, watching the two guys fight over her in jealousy.

Reks came up for a hit but Vaan somersaulted over his older brother, and spun on his heel quickly to block from another attack. The younger brother backed up and Reks swung quick, throwing Vaan back. Vaan charged in quick, but stepped back again.

Their blocking was beginning to get sloppy, as the end was barely catching onto the sword. Reks saw Vaan's exertion and exhaustion and kicked him down. He stepped on Vaan sword that had slipped out of his hand, stood over him, sword to his neck. "Bro, if this was real you'd be dead."

She retreated his sword and helped the embarassed Vaan up. Vera clapped. "That was great Reks." She cheered jumping up and down. Vaan snuck away embarassed.

"You like that, huh?" Reks asked, but he was looking at Terra. She didn't say anything and walked past him to check up on Vaan.

He watched her follow his younger brother in surprise, ignoring Vera clinging onto his arm.

_**Lightning's POV**_

_**Dreamworld**_

_Even though this was a 'dreamworld', we still had to take a train all the way to PalumPolum. I felt weird in my dress and heels, and my hair was unraveling, finding pink flowers here and there in my hair. Fang had unpinned her hair, letting it loose, and pulled up her halter dress. "I hope my nipple doesn't slip out of this."_

_"Let's hope not." I then felt the train halt._

_"If it's not one thing," she muttered, smushing into me. She leaned over me to peek out the window. "Oh, come on! We're almost there aren't we?" She complained pointing to the other end of the tunnel._

_"Yeah." I looked at the ceiling for an emergency exit._

_She followed my line of vision. "Let's get outta here." She said. "How do you open this thing?"_

_"Give me a boost." I said, kicking my heels off. She did the same and cupped her hands. I climbed on and pushed the black tab up and out. As soon as I heard a click, I heard hissing and all the passengers on the train began to shake._

_I quickly pushed the door open and jumped up, gripping the ledge. "Hurry it up, Farron!" Fang ordered, taking down passengers._

_I leant over, reaching for her. One chaos infused monster tried to get my hand and Fang killed it off, jumping for my hand. She kicked another in the face, pulling herself on top. "Great, now we have to walk barefoot." She muttered, rubbing her feet._

_Mine was beginning to blister. But we still had to get to Hope's house. So the two of us had to run across the train's top the rest of the way until we were at the PalumPolum station. "I don't think we have enough to time to get all the way to Felix Heights." Fang said._

_But then I saw a tan car pass by, Hope in the passenger seat while his mom drove. "There he is!" I nudged to Fang._

_She then kicked a man out of a red convertible. "Come on!" She yelled at me._

_Figuring what's the worse that can happen besides the car itself transforming into Chaos I hopped into the passenger side._

_Unfortunately, Fang could not drive. "Fang, what the hell are you doing?"_

_"Honestly, I have no idea, this is fun!"_

_"Fang, if we crash before we get to Hope, I swear on Etro's Shrine I will strangle you. What are you doing!? Turn left! They went left!"_

_"I __**am**__ turning left! Don't yell at me, pinky!"_

_"You have to turn the blinkers on-"_

_A car behind us stopped abruptly, and the car behind it crashed._

_"Ooh!" Fang winced, having seen the accident in the rearview mirror. "Good thing they aren't real."_

_I then saw the traffic light turn red, and the Estheim car managed to pass right before the color changed. Of course, Fang obviously doesn't know the traffic rules and floored it! "Fang! Red light means stop!"_

_"Ain't nobody got time for that! You're about to be filled up with black goop."_

_But a truck was coming the opposite direction. Fang did not hesitate. "Ah!" I hollered, covering my eyes. I heard the truck past behind us. I looked back, we had just barely made it._

_"See, I got this."_

_But the truck had crashed into a pole, and a giant round object rolled off from the truck and followed us. "Where'd they go?" Fang muttered._

_"We're almost there. Just go up." I quickly told her. I saw we were low on gas, "shit!"_

_We went up a slope and the tan car was visible . "They need to pull over." I said._

_"Hey! Hey, Hope! Stop the car!"_

_"He can't hear you!" I told her._

_"I got an idea. Take the wheel." The car swerved as Fang let go and I jumped into the seat as she was leaving it. She grabbed her spear and sat on the front. I could see Hope's mother's face in the rearview mirror, looking at Fang in bewilderment._

_His mother began to speed up, trying to get away from Fang's intimidating stance. But Fang leaped, and stabbed the spear into the back of the car._

_"The fuck, Fang!" I hollered. I pulled over and so did Hope's mother._

_I jumped out of the car as Mrs. Estheim began to tell off Fang. "What the hell are you doing?" She snapped._

_Hope stayed in the car, and while his mother was busy chewing out Fang, I opened the car and told Hope to get out. He did so without question, fearing my authoritive voice. Nora saw this. "What are you doing? Leave him alone."_

_"Turn him away." Fang told me. Already knowing what she was planning on doing and I covered Hope's eyes and she stabbed Nora through the chest, her gasping in surprise._

_"Mom!" Hope exclaimed, pulling away from me. Like everyone else, she transformed into it's true form and Hope snapped out of it. "Light? Fang?" He gasped._

_Fang stabbed the figure again, a glow surrounding the spear. "Well, that was fun..."_

_PalumPolum began to melt around us, "Okay, we just made it." Fang sighed. "Okay, listen carefully, Vanille must have found Sazh by now and are telling the others the same thing. When you face Chaos say '__**Pultis Amicus Veniant**__', that's the only way you can take on these things. Can you remember that?"_

_"Pultis Amicus Veniant." Hope repeated._

_Fang began to fade out, "We'll see each other again."_

I woke up in a dark room. But when I tried to get up, I realized I was strapped to a hospital bed, my mouth gagged. I heard muffled yelling next to me, and from the corner of my eye I can make out Snow, struggling against the restraints.

I tried to wriggle free but then I heard someone approaching my bed slowly. It was that male doctor. "Hello, L'Cie." He greeted, holding up a syringe filled with Chaos.


	18. Walking on Thin Ice

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

I continued to fight against the restaints as the doctor slowly approached my hospital bed, squirting a bit of the chaos out of the syringe. His eyes glinted with evil intent and he smiled a crooked smile. I can hear Snow's bed move next to me as he used all his strength to break through the straps. His loud voice muffled, as well as Hope's on the opposite side.

I assumed Sazh was here too, but it didn't seem that NORA was in this mysterious room at all. "We have been waiting for you for quite some time now." The doctor said, stopping inbetween my bed and Hope's. He clicked his tongue staring down at me. "You have caused alot of suffering here. You should feel ashamed."

I had wanted to spit at his face that we weren't the cause of all this suffering. Who was the ones strapped to the bed, being forced to take in a poisonous element that corrupts their minds and cause more pain and suffering? Who was the one inflicting these said people?

"I have been waiting for you L'Cie to arrive. When I am done with you, we will be released from this prison. Chaos will grant us back what we all desire most."

What exactly did this doctor desire?

He didn't give an answer. He was about to unzip my turtleneck so he had easiar access to my neck, but then I heard the hospital beds shaking and Snow, Sazh, and Hope's muffled cries filled the room. The doctor halted his movements, and he laughed humorously.

He then spun on his heel and I heard the syringe stab into the bed behind him, Hope's, and the silver haired teenager let out a muffled yelp.

Now I was the one fighting against the restraints. "Shh..." The doctor said. I couldn't see his face, with the doctor's back turned. "Don't fret, child. The pain won't last for very long."

I froze when the doctor tossed over his shoulder Hope's neckerchief, the piece of cloth that has been Hope's trademark for as long as I've known him, drifting gently until it was draped over my chest like a tablecloth. I tried to squeeze my hands out of the tight restraints.

And I swore to myself at the inability to summon Odin unless my crystal was out of my chest. I heard Hope's muffled cries and my heart raced.

"This will not take long at all young one. The transformation will be quick."

Just when I was sure all hope was lost, the door flew open and gunshots pelted the doctor. He dropped the syringe, and I can barely see Hope, laying their motionless. Lebreau unstrapped him first, and Maqui undid mine.

As soon as I was free I helped Hope up, as he pulled his black shirt down. He had fearful tears in his eyes and I pulled him into my arms. "Are you okay?" I whispered.

"Yeah." I said, but his voice wavered. "I-I thought..."

I pulled away, wiping a tear from his eye. He smiled reassuringly at me, letting me know he was just a bit shaken.

"What happened to you guys?" Yuj asked. "We woke up and you guys were all gone."

"How did you find us?" Hope asked, hopping off the hospital bed.

"We found this by the staircase." Gadot said, holding up Snow's engagement necklace. The larger man touched his own chest, realizing that the object wasn't there, then accepted it from his bestfriend in relief. "Must of fell off you when that doctor dragged you away."

"Why did he only take you guys?" Lebreau asked. "Because you're L'Cie?"

"Looks that way." I replied, finding my gunblade underneath my hospital bed.

"And we know how to defeat Chaos." Sazh told the rest of NORA. "While we were held captive, the chaos had made our minds close up in this dreamrealm. A world with no Fal'Cies, L'Cies, or Purge." the dark skinned man explained.

"It was supposed to make us tame like animals while the doctor was gettin' ready to infuse us with that Chaos goop." Snow finished.

"But they failed." I said. "Now it's time to meet this Chaos."

"Now you're talking." Gadot laughed punching his fists together and cracking his neck.

"About damn time." Sazh sighed, cocking up his guns.

"Wait a minute," Lebreau paused, "I thought we can't take on Chaos?"

Snow smiled. "Our dear crystalized friends saved us from the dreamworld and told us how we _all_ can defeat him." He wrapped his large arms around Yuj and Maqui as he said 'all'.

We were about to take off when we heard a loud noise in the room next to us. We all got into a battle stance. "Come on." Lebreau whispered and we carefully entered the room. We then saw a hospital bed tipped over, one other patient having been strapped onto it, crying to get free.

"No!" he cried, "Get away from me!" He cried.

"Poor guy," Lebreau whispered, approaching him gently, "he must have been stuck here all this time. Luckily that old doctor didn't get to him."

"Stop!" he cried again, "don't go near me! Leave me alone!" he sobbed and cringed and tried to get free.

Gadot walked closely behind Lebreau, gun in his arms in case something happened. "Hey," Lebreau continued to coax, "Hope, send him a cure spell."

The silver haired teenager did just that and the patient's eyes widened. "Magic! You're the L'Cie! you are the reason we have all been suffering!"

"Looks like that doctor brainwashed him into believing that crock." Hope said aloud.

"Hey, we're the good guys!" Maqui tried to inform the man as Lebreau unshackled him.

"I said, leave me alone!" The patient tried scooting away.

"Leave him!" I ordered.

Lebreau looked back at me in surprise, and Snow filled her in, "obviously he's not going to believe we're the good guys unless we get Chaos to leave them all alone. We stalled long enough." He popped his knuckles. "Let's pay him a visit."

Lebreau didn't seem to agree right away, but nevertheless she whispered to the patient, "we'll come back for you. I promise."

He continued to cry to himself as we left him there to wallow.

The rest of the climb was agonizing. I had just wanted to get rid of the chaos so we can save Serah and get back home. But knowing that life had a twisted sense of entertainment, this journey will not get over quickly.

**General POV**

**Oerba Village**

Vaan and Terra spent the rest of the day at home. At first Terra was just reassuring the younger brother that he had done very well during training. They then started talking about life before Cocoon's Fall.

Shortly after, Reks entered the house. Vaan expected his brother to look upset of their abrupt exit, but instead he was grinning from ear to ear. "What's gotten you so high up?" Terra asked.

Reks didn't even try to act humble. "I got laid."

Vaan and Terra just stared blankly at him. Then the older woman laughed. "Nuh-huh." When Reks didn't back down she asked, "with who?"

"Vera." He answered, plopping himself inbetween Terra and Vaan.

The younger brother grimaced, "What?"

"You slept with her?" Terra asked. "I didn't even know you talked? When did this happen?"

Reks chuckled, leaning close to the teacher, "I know you're feeling a bit 'jealous'," he put imaginary quotations marks around the word 'jealous', "but I never kiss...well we did more than kiss- sorry, sorry. I never kiss and tell."

"Oh." Terra said, looking straight ahead and sitting upright.

One...two...three..."okay I'll tell you."

Vaan rolled his eyes, standing up and excusing himself to his room.

"Vera, was _so_ impressed by my battle skills this afternoon," he gave a solid chuckle, "she couldn't keep her hands off me."

"Vera can't keep her hands off anything." Terra replied.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Reks leaned even closer to the older woman that she had to arch her back so she was afraid from his face, "Terra, what happened between Vera and I didn't mean anything," he tucked a strand behind her ear, "no need to be jealous."

Terra narrowed her eyes then said in a sarcastic tone, "what a noble man you are, Reks."

"I know." Reks answered, leaning in and closing his eyes.

"I think I need to go to my room and do something about it." Terra swiftly stood on her feet and and strutted towards her room.

"Oh ho ho," the older brother howled, "you sure you don't want to exert that heat onto me?"

"I'm sure." Slam!

"Yup, I still got it."

**Lightning's POV**

**?**

"I am never going to see a doctor." Yuj commented as we continued to climb up the steps.

Gadot suddenly stopped walking and sat down. "Whoo! How much longer til we get there. If I keep up this pace I'll be winded by the time we face him."

"It's not so bad, Gadot." Lebreau commented, leaning against his back.

"Hey, soldiergirl," Sazh asked as everyone began to slow their pace, "can we take a breather?"

I just shrugged, leaning against the wall. We sat in silence for a few moments, but of course, Snow can't keep his mouth shut for a lengthy period of time. "What else do you think is going on out there?" he asked.

"Didn't somebody mention something about Cosmos disappearing?" Hope brought up.

"She was in Eden when we last saw her." Snow informed the rest of the party who have never seen her. "She said she was going to help."

"But nobody has heard from her since then," Sazh mentioned. "You think Chaos defeated her? It seems pretty bad in Cocoon. If a hospital in the middle of nowhere is under attack."

"But Vayne said..." Maqui then trailed off knowingly.

"Fuck the new Primarch." Gadot muttered. "He's probably secretly working for Chaos."

Snow then became quiet. This happened everytime he thought and wondered about Serah. I wanted to tell him. But thought better of it. He'd might try to go after her if he knew. So I kept my mouth shut.

**General POV**

**Oerba Village**

Bartholomew Estheim has remained silent as he looked after his people. He was practically the village leader. The mayor. Their own Primarch. Everyone often came to him for things.

Of course when it's something physical they ask Amodar and when it's something outside of the village they ask Rygdea. But when it had to do with things within, Bartholomew was on the job.

And he deduced, the first thing he will work on as soon as the L'Cie return, is for a way to advance their technology. It seemed everybody had nothing better to do than to bother him and one another since there was nothing to do at home.

If Vera complains about one more thing that is underneath the Gran Pulsian sun...this girl needs a social network to preoccupy her, and leave everyone else alone. At least have her bother everyone else much less.

He was so absorbed within his thoughts, he had only just noticed a fizzling sound occuring beside him as Dajh spoke to Chocolina. Even the six year old heard the noise and stopped talking to listen carefully.

That was when Bartholomew saw something. Morrigan was inside her shack, the door open just enough for her to cast magic! **Magic**! She saw Bartholomew looking at her and she quickly shut the door. Bartholomew got up from his seat and approached Morrigan's shack, leaving the six year old to cock his head to the left, curious as to where Bartholomew was going.

"Mr. Estheim?" He asked.

When Dajh didn't receive a response he shrugged and asked his baby chocobo guide to lead him to where one of the kids were to play. He followed after Chocolina's chirping.

Bartholomew didn't even knock, he just threw the door open as Morrigan sat back up from the other side of the bed. He slammed the door behind him and crossed his arms.

"Tsk," she rolled her gold eyes crossing her arms over the top of her pregnant belly. "Do not look at me like I am a child ready for a scolding." She snapped.

"What are you?" Bartholomew snapped back, mimicking her posture.

She stood upright, arms to her sides, "Hmph. I am as your son."

He rose an eyebrow over his glasses until the realization sunk in. "You are a L'Cie." That explained alot. On what happened the day Marlene passed out from hunger and dehydration, on the fizzling noise next to Dajh. She had been keeping the kids healthy.

"Obviously. What other being do you know that casts magic?" She lowered her leathers to reveal the L'Cie brand on her left thigh.

Bartholomew at first blushed at the sight of her dark pink underwear, but then he noticed the L'Cie brand had advanced all the way, the red eye opened. "What?" he whispered.

"Yes, I was meant to become a cieth almost nine months ago." She informed the man, pulling her pants back up and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"But how did you avoid it without your brand turning white." He asked, sitting next to her.

"I made a bargain, to a Fal'Cie here on Gran Pulse." she told him, "my focus was...well, I cannot tell you what my Focus was. But in order to save myself and grant myself the gift of eternal life, I was to carry a child."

"Why?" Bartholomew asked.

"So your son as well as the other L'Cie could live and complete their Focus. It will also save the worlds, both Gran Pulse and Cocoon from great destruction. The true end of the world."

"So you're really just-"

"A pawn, Bartholomew! A slave. Like all good little L'Cies should be. That is why my brand isn't white like your son's and that school teacher's. If anything happens to this child before the day of...I will become cieth."

"What do you have to do?"

"I cannot tell you. I was already told not to let anyone else know, including the other L'Cies that I am still one. No one is to know of my plans. You hear? No one except for me and the fal'cie. Not even the man who impregnated me knows my true intentions."

Bartholomew just stared a Morrigan. There was alot to her than he had even assumed. First off she was not from Cocoon. Second, she was a L'Cie (not a witch like everyone else was quick to assume).

The real question was if her intentions were true. She could easily just be telling him she was helping and really be somebody who will be an instrument of destruction. "I promise, nobody else but I will know."

He was going to keep an even closer eye on this woman.

**Lightning's POV**

**?**

There he stood, a muscular four-arm fiend in dark red hues, with large wings sprouting from his back and demonic faces on his knees. He had a long tail and several horns, the most prominent of which are two red horns that curve into the air. Chaos wore a loincloth with another face on it, and a red amulet.

Groaning could be heard as his surprisingly small army of infused patients stood in lines, glaring at us. "Wait for my command," his deep voice ordered, standing tall.

They grunted in response and we all got into a battle pose.

"L'Cie..." He spoke, his voice much calmer than when he was in a form of smoke, "we...have been waiting to finally meet you."

"No time for chatting." Sazh said, bouncing up and down getting ready for battle.

"But why?" He asked. "We finally meet, after we've heard so much about each other. Do you not want to hear what I have to say."

"We've learned what happens when we let our enemy monologue." I informed him, remembering Dysley's infamous speeches. We never remembered his words, just how long he spoke and we literally just stood there and did nothing.

"Please," He said, trying to pull off a cool demeanor, "we do not have to fight. I can give you what you desire."

"Don't listen to him, guys." Sazh informed us all. "He's just trying to string you along."

"What about your younger sister, Serah?" he asked.

"Serah?" Snow repeated.

"Don't listen to him Snow!" I barked at the larger man. "He's just trying to throw you off."

"I can bring her to you," Chaos continued saying, "Then the two of you can come back with me, and start your dream life in your original home. Bodhum."

"Oerba's our home now." Hope argued. But I saw at the corner of my eye Snow begin to drop his guard.

"Pultis..." I began.

"Amicus..." Sazh followed.

"Veniant!" Hope finished off and we all glowed, as well as NORA.

"Whoa!" Gadot gasped, looking down at his gun, "this is trippy."

"Get them!" Lebreau cried shooting at the infused patients.

They exploded in response. I charged towards Chaos and performed a blitz, sending out electricity outward. Gadot helped me up and I somersaulted over Chaos, shooting at him. He engulfed himself in fire and the flames went up higher.

Snow casted ice magic just as the flames could burn me and it shattered, falling to the ground. I landed on my feet and went in for another hit, just as he moved away, leaving me in a ring of fire. I rolled across the ground and shot at Chaos who was flying around the large hall.

He conjured up a fire shield and I struggled to keep shooting it down, but my bullets kept missing. He sent the fire shield my way and I rolled over as Sazh danced away, the flames catching onto the sleeve of his shirt.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" he exclaimed, blowing the fire off.

I continued shooting at him but he suddenly charged at me with his wings throwing me up. Fire erupted everywhere and I shield myself from the burn. I finally found him within the flames and slashed my blade at him.

I slammed him down and Snow and Gadot tag teamed and picked the beast up and tossed him back up as I landed on my feet. Sazh, Lebreau, Yuj, Maqui, and I shot up at him. Hope sent ruin spells at him after throwing his boomerblade.

Chaos grabbed a hold of the boomerblade and lit it up with fire and threw it back down, throwing us all back. Hope quickly jumped to his feet to perform Last Resort, and I took advantage of it to jump up and keep him up.

Staggered, everyone else continued to shoot.

Just when I was about to go in for the finish, he disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. I gasped, landing on my feet.

The Chaos smoke disappeared from the room. "An...apparition?" Lebreau asked.

"So Chaos can be in more than one place." Hope figured out.

"Damn..." Maqui swore, pushing his goggles up on top of his head.

We heard a grunt as a few doctors sat back up from the far side of the room, "What happened?" an older one asked.

"Is he gone?" Another asked.

"Even better..." Snow said, "he was never really here to begin with."

"But if he was, he would have been a dead man-beast-thing." Gadot muttered, angry that we fought for nothing.

"Come on," Yuj offered a hand, "let's go back and let the others know what went down."

We had to walk all the way back down, luckily, the barricade had been removed. The others were aware of Chaos's departure. Not wanting to worry them that he was able to interfere without even being here in the first place, we silently made our way back to the airship.

"Thanks." Snow accepted the neckbrace that Hope requested.

"How can you be nice to them?" That one patient asked, still tied up in a straight jacket, "they are L'Cie! They've come to harm us!"

"These L'Cie just saved our life!" The older doctor barked at the insane man. "We owe them more than we can ever repay."

"If you don't mind," Maqui continued, "we kinda crashed here, so we might be stuck here for a night or two."

"That is quite fine." The doctor assured us, "we actually feel much more comfortable knowing you are here."

They had even offered for us to stay inside, but we felt much more comfortable camping out than sleeping in the chaos infested rooms. Though Chaos himself was an apparition, the liquidfied chaos and possessed doctors were real.

Lebreau was gradually walking towards me, and I noticed her eyes heavily lidded. I remembered her accident earliar. "Lebreau, are you feeling alright?" I asked.

"If you want you can stay inside." Sazh informed the dark haired woman.

She forced a smile. "I'm fine, just tired. I never had so much scare in my life."

"It was like a horror movie." Maqui added.

"I think we all need to unwind and relax." Snow said. "I'm gonna get a fire going."

Everybody went off to do their own thing. Snow, Gadot, and Lebreau went to go start a fire. Maqui, Sazh, and Yuj were trying to fix the airship, and Hope went off by himself. I followed him to make sure he didn't stray off too far.

"You okay?" I asked him once he stopped.

"Yeah." he mumbled, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. "How many times are we gonna crash an airship before it's just broken?" he asked.

I chuckled. It did seem we were always crashing into places. Maybe Sazh wasn't as good as a pilot as he assumed. He even crashed when he was younger. "I know what you mean. We can never just land somewhere and say, 'okay, we can leave as soon as we're done what we've come to do'."

Hope laughed at that. He sat down in the dirt and I joined him. "Light, something's been bothering me all day."

"What?" I asked.

He bit his lip, tracing the line on his fizzled out L'Cie brand. "It's about Morrigan."

"Morrigan?" I asked. That surprised me. "What about Morrigan?"

He didn't look up at me.

"Hope, look at me." I ordered.

He glanced up quickly, eyes wide. He kept glancing inbetween his brand and me. "W-well, before we left, I was asking Rygdea if he was going to come. He wasn't, obviously. And then Morrigan appeared and Rygdea asked her where she was because apparently she kind of never was around or something. Anyways," he continued nervously now fiddling with his gloves.

"Get to the point, Hope." I pressed, getting antsy at his pauses.

"She was carrying a book with a picture of an open eyed L'Cie brand on the cover." He blurted out. "And when I tried to look at it she smacked my hand and ran off."

"What was it?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. But I found it weird on why she had it."

"Maybe it was just some regular old storybook about L'Cie." I figured, but even I didn't sound too sure. Morrigan was a curious one.

Hope shook his head, "it was like the classic witchy spell book. Worn, big, thick, heavy, hardcovered, old, everything associated to what a suspicous spellbook is described like, that was the book."

"Well, what do you think it is?" I asked, not too sure exactly what it could be without sounding ridiculous and claiming it to be a 'Witch's Spellbook'.

"Wait!" Hope exclaimed, grabbing my arm, "don't we have a radio inside the airship?"

"Uh," I shrugged, "if it works..."

He jumped to his feet and reached his hand out so I had to stand up too. "Come on, let's go see."

He made his way to the airship, everyone watching us curiously but not making a move. We entered the airship and Hope looked around the pilot seat for a small radio. We barely used it ever since Cosmos gave it to us. "Hello?" He tried speaking into it. "Is anyone there?"

Sazh and Maqui were now poking their heads in curiously. " I don't think it works." I told Hope.

"_Hello_?" I familiar male voice answered.

"Rygdea?" Hope said.

"_Hey! Is this Hope? That radio works_!"Rygdea bellowed, the static merging with his actual words.

"Well, looky that." Sazh said, impressed.

Hope exited the airship and walked past the campfire to speak to Rygdea privately. Everyone else watched him curiously as they secretly conversed.

**General POV**

**Oerba Village**

"Morrigan's book?" Rygdea repeated. "Yeah, I remember. Why? What is it?"

"_I don't know._" Hope replied, "_That's why I got into contact with you. I need to know what's inside that book._"

Rygdea chuckled to himself, "I already offered my selection-"

"_I highly doubt there is porn in the thing, Rygdea!_" Hope exclaimed, unamused.

"Alright, alright, don't get your little dick in a knot. I was only fooling around. But I am no fool. And only fools rush in."

"_Then don't rush in. A peek couldn't hurt._"

"Story of my life. Fine kid, I'll check it out. For you. Let me see if the witch is home, maybe over a bubbling cauldron." Rygdea imitated a witch's laugh, which only came out as a nasal wheeze.

He shimmied out of his airship and attempted to 'sneak' around Morrigan's house. But his exaggerated movements were gaining more attention than avoiding it. But nobody brought it up. He circled the rest of Morrigan's shack and peeked through an opening.

He was surprised to see Morrigan and Bartholomew sitting on her bed, talking. "Hey, Hope, you still there?" Rygdea whispered into the radio.

"_Yeah_." He replied, and Rygdea kept the radio away from the opening in case they heard.

"Your dad is in the shack with Morrigan."

A pause followed after he informed the young teenager. "_My dad_?" He asked, sounding perplexed.

"Yeah. What if he and Morrigan have a thing?"

"_Rygdea_!" The Calvary captain winced and lowered the volume of the radio at Hope's outburst. "_Focus! What are they saying? Can you hear them_?"

"Give me a minute." He leaned in closer so he can figure out what was going on. Just his luck, she pulled out the book from under the bed, turning to a certain page.

He couldn't quite hear what they were saying but he heard the words 'baby', and 'Eidolon', and even the word 'dead'. Realizing that was all he was going to get out of the conversation, especially when Bartholomew looked like he was getting ready to leave, Rygdea fled to his airship.

"Hey, Hope." Rygdea turned back up the volume, "Morrigan showed your dad the book."

"_She did_?"

"Yes, Hope. And they talked about her baby and an Eidolon. And something about something dying or something..." Rygdea babbled.

He can easily picture Hope's bewildered expression. The Calvary captain heard a long sigh, "_Okay. Thanks anyway, Rygdea._"

"Maybe your dad can tell you."

"_I don't think so. We're about to get some sleep. We're kind stuck out here after a shakedown with Chaos, so we have to get this airship fixed._"

"Well, alright. Be careful out there." Rygdea set aside the radio, and sat down. He was about to pick up a dirty magazine, but realized he was no longer in the mood.

He blamed Hope. Rygdea then noticed Bhakti zipping towards him, holding out a novel. He made beeping noises. "You're tellin' me to read now?"

**Beep, boop. bop. beep boop.**

The Calvary captain shrugged, taking the book from Bhakti's hands.

**Lightning's POV**

I stepped aside as Hope walked past me to return the radio. He looked peeved. Figuring he just needed some time I sat back down with the rest around the fire. Lebreau was giving Snow a massage after he quietly complained about the pain in his neck.

He groaned in relief when Lebreau found the knots.

"I'm next." Gadot claimed, scooting towards them.

Lebreau rolled her eyes. "Actually, Sazh already asked kindly if I would give him one too. You don't realy need one Gadot."

"But my back hurts." Snow's bestfriend whined, crossing his arms and pouting.

Yuj chuckled as Lebreau walked over him towards Sazh and worked her magic into his back.

Sazh sighed, "boy, did I needed that."

"Hey, Lightning," Lebreau asked me, "you need a massage?"

"Yeah, Soldiergirl, you're always so tense." Sazh added, closing his eyes as Lebreau then started massaging his forhead.

"I'm fine." I replied, sitting criss crossed around the fire.

Hope returned from within the airship and I saw him put a smile on his face, despite being irritated. "So what are we having for dinner?" he asked.

"Hamburgers." Maqui informed the younger teenager handing him his on a paperplate. He passed out the rest of the burgers out to everyone, and we ate in silence, since we were all so hungry.

"I wish we had brought ketchup or cheese with us." Gadot muttered, eyeing the rather dry burger.

"I tried to season it as much as I could with what we have." Lebreau let us all know. "Who knows how long we'd be out. And if Chaos is practically everywhere, anywhere, than I don't think we are safe."

"Let's all try to relax," Yuj said, mouth full of burger. "Let's talk about something to get our minds off the Chaos and doctors and whatever else is out there."

"What were you talking to Rygdea about?" Snow asked Hope.

The silver haired teenager was about to answer but then I blurted, "I just remembered something Fang told me in the dream."

That gained everyone's attention.

Hope looked surprised that I was quick to change the subject when it was about his conversation with Rygdea, and I hoped he took the hint that we weren't going to tell our comrades about Morrigan. At least not yet.

But now I had to tell everyone, including Snow about Serah's location and situation. I didn't forget how he hesistated against Chaos when he offered Serah's return and a home of their own in Bodhum, which based on what Sazh, Hope, and Amodar told me, it was Chaos's main home.

"Serah is in Eden." I informed them all. "With Vayne. He announced they are getting married."

Everybody's eyes widened, and Snow stood quickly. "Married!?" He exclaimed, his voice echoing, "but she's engaged to me! See!" he held up the engagement necklace around his neck.

"That Primarch don't care," Sazh said, leaning back since Lebreau had taken a seat inbetween Snow and Gadot. "Serah is the most beautiful girl in Oerba, er, you girls know what I mean..." he trailed off remembering Lebreau and I were also female.

Lebreau just shrugged.

"Anyways, everyone loves Serah."

"Of course they do," Maqui added, "she's pretty, and smart, and kind..."

I stared at the blonde and noticed the blush on his cheeks as he realized he sounded like a man in love.

"Anyway," Sazh continued, "The Primarch is in love with Serah. And Chaos saw this, because damn it, all our enemies know everything apparently, and is using that to our advantage."

"He's playing us like a deck of cards." Yuj muttered, leaning back on his hands.

"So Sazh," Hope said, "you're saying Chaos is using Vayne's...love for Serah, and Snow and Light's love for Serah-"

"And our loyalty to the Boss..." Gadot added in.

"Of course." I grumbled. "We are pawns in a game of Chaos. He's trying to get us to Eden."

"But we have to go to Eden," Snow exclaimed, "Serah is there!"

"She's fine, Snow." I assured him, "Fang and Vanille said-"

"Vanille?" Snow asked.

Crap.

Everyone stared at me expectantly. "When did she tell you this? I was right there." Snow chose now to be perceptive.

There was no way out of this. "I...when I got shot...Fang and Vanille spoke to me. They told me-"

"So," Snow began walking towards me angrily as I stood up, "instead of going straight to Eden and saving my fiance, your sister, you listened to Hope," he pointed at the teenager, "and went to the Vile Peaks."

"We were after the Chaos." I argued.

"We were supposed to rescue Serah!"

"No! I said we were going after Chaos and you agreed."

"That was before I knew you actually knew where she was. Why did you keep this from me!"

"Yeah, Soldiergirl," Sazh was now taking Snow's side, "I understand you not telling Snow but I thought you trusted me. I would have understood. Did she tell you?" He asked Hope.

He shook his head, "N-no...no she didn't." He looked away.

"Well," Yuj intervened, "that dinner around the fire was nice while it lasted. We're gonna go over here until this blows over." The rest of NORA scurried off as Snow and Sazh stared me down.

Hope remained on the ground, looking down. He has been doing that alot all night.

"Why did you keep this from us?" Sazh asked, he seemed to cool off quicker than Snow, who continued seething.

"I...Vanille told me to not go after Serah until everything is complete."

"And what does that mean?" Snow asked impatiently getting into my face. I pushed him back, letting him know he was pushing his limit.

"I don't know!" I snapped, "but it means that there is still alot of things that are left unattended."

"Ain't nobody got time for this runnin' around." Sazh said. "When is this wedding?"

"I don't know. But-"

"We have to get Serah!" Snow said, making his way back to the airship.

"We can't! That's just what Chaos wants us to do, and probably the Primarch and-"

"Did you seriously stop caring about Serah?" Snow asked, and I punched him in the face, knocking him down almost towards the fire.

"I do! That's why we have to take care of other things first. She's safe there! Vayne will not hurt her!"

"But she's away from us!" Snow countered, rubbing his neck.

"Serah will be fine." I stated, glaring down at him.

He kicked the dirt towards me and made his way towards the airship to get away from me. NORA watched at a safe distance. I glanced at the contemplating Sazh. "You understand why I didn't tell you, right?"

"Just like how we didn't tell Snow about being a L'Cie." Sazh said. "He does not trust us no more. _You _especially. Your walkin' on thin ice with Snow, Soldiergirl."

"I'm walking on thin ice?" I asked, "Snow's been walking on thin ice with me since I met him. I even fished him out myself in the ice cold water when he broke through only for him to keep walking on that same **thin ice**! How dare he accuse me of keeping secrets!"

"Are you keepin' secrets, Soldiergirl?" Sazh asked, eyes lighting up. "Cause, I'm not. I'm the most honest man you'll ever meet. And Snow is incapable of keeping secrets."

"Don't act like I'm some sort of compulsive-"

"Are you keeping anymore secrets from me? Just answer the damn question, Lightning."

Quickly, I thought of Morrigan. Then of Dajh. "No." I found myself saying, looking at him straight in the eye.

He stared at me long and hard, "are you sure, now? There's nothing I need to know?"

Sazh no longer trusted me eighter it seemed. "I'm sure." I lied, keeping eye contact.

I fought back the urge to flinch when Sazh clapped a hand on my shoulder squeezing it. "I really am sorry, Soldiergirl," he said giving an apologetic smile. Just when he was about to walk pass Hope, he asked jokingly, "And are you hiding anything?"

"No." Hope answered a little too quick, having avoided eye contact throughout the entire arguement.

Sazh didn't think anything of it as he walked on, "Sazh!" I called out to him. "I'm sorry for not telling you. I really am."

Of course, he thought I was referring to about my conversation with Fang and Vanille. He looked back with a real smile, "What's done is done, Lightning, don't sweat about it. In fact, get some sleep, you look beat." he turned back around.

"I'm not sorry to Snow." I added. "If we weren't there, he would have accepted that offer from Chaos."

He didn't turn back around, instead just waved his hand back knowingly. I glanced back at Hope who continued to stare off, having not shown any expression. Guilt took over me. I sat down next to the fourteen year old, and he didn't move. "I'm sorry. I couldn't tell them about Morrigan."

He continued to not speak. "I know why you did it. Even about Serah, I get it. And Sazh does too." He then looked at me, with a soft smile, "but you know Sazh is the only one keeping the peace between you and Snow."

That actually made a little more sense. Last time it was three against one, we hadn't spoken for almost a week. Somebody has to stay by his side.

Serah wasn't there, so Sazh out all people needs to keep us docile.

But screw that! I was pissed off at Snow for doing something so reckless. Showing a weakness against the enemy. Does he know how many times he's going to fall for that trick. What if he faces Chaos alone, and we weren't there to snap some sense into him.

What if Chaos made his way to Serah and offer her...she'd say yes in a heartbeat!

Sensing my tensing up, I felt Hope curl up by me. "Light," he whispered, "get some rest, okay."

**General POV**

**Oerba**

"Bartholomew!" Cloud barged into the Council leader's room. With Lightning and Hope gone, they were the only two occupants of the house. "The Primarch is here."

The rest of his voice drowned out by the sound of the Primarch's airship. Angry that the man dared showed his face in Oerba quickly got dressed and exited the house. As expected the entire village had exited their homes as well, some of them with weapons.

But the Primarch didn't appear the be staying long. In fact, he let down a rope ladder. He was picking somebody up? "Bartholomew Estheim," The Primarch used a megaphone. "I am inviting you to come back to Eden with me, for the day."

"Why?" Bartholomew asked.

"You have showed me your wonderful hospitality in your village, I want to repay with a day off."

"What are you playing at!?" Squall barked up.

"I am not playing at anything, young man."

"You're not that much older than me!"

"Bartholomew," Morrigan said, coming up beside the Council leader, "I think you should go. He must want something from you. We'll be fine here, good man."

Bartholomew sighed and pushed up his glasses. "I would need someone to take my place. Laguna already has Sazh's."

"I will, Bartholomew." Morrigan voluneteered. "You just go."

The Council leader let out a breath and climbed the ladder. Vera glared at him. "Why is he leaving us?" She squealed.

"Vaan," Morrigan called out to the younger man, "would you be a good boy and fetch me some masking tape. First order of business is to tape her trap shut."

Vera scoffed at Morrigan's order, clinging onto an annoyed Reks.

**Lightning's POV**

**?**

While we all slept, I felt somebody nudging my arm. I opened my eyes, the sun just now coming up. I didn't get much sleep. But standing over me was a man with a white t-shirt and a blue bandana over his head. He stepped back, frightened when I awoke. "I'm sorry sir, er, ma'am."

I sat up and Hope slid off from where he was resting on my chest onto the ground. There were more people trying to get the rest of our group up. "Who are you?" I asked, standing up, dusting the dirt off my pants.

"I am Watts, of the Forest Owls." He introduced himself.

"The Forest Owls?" Snow asked, having made his way towards Watts. "Rinoa's rebel group?"

"You know our leader?" Watts exclaimed in happiness. "She is alive then?"

"Well, she was..." Sazh said but trailed off sadly.

"Oh...I kinda figured she did. If she hadn't she would have found us by now. I think."

"Are there more of you?" Lebreau asked. "Do you have a camp?"

"Yes, it's inside the Sunleth Waterscape."

"That's where we are!" Yuj said, snapping his fingers.

"Do you have things that can help our airship get fixed. We kinda crashed it," Maqui said.

"Sure," Watts reassured, "I'll send a crew over. How about you all come with me. Our camp has been here for over two weeks."

"You've been living in there all this time?" Gadot asked as we began to follow him in.

"Alot of bad things have been happening to our members whenever we tried to get out of the wilderness." Watts explained.

We finally made it to their camp after a five minute walk. "You're trapped here?" Hope asked.

I then saw the traces of infused Chaos. "They experiemented on them." Lebreau exclaimed.

A man around Watts age approached us. He had short black hair wearing a t-shirt and jean shorts. He was clutching his stomach. "Watts, who are these people?"

"Are you alright?" Hope asked, approaching the man hesitantly. "Is it the Chaos?"

"No, Zone just gets very bad stomach pains." Watts explained and we all let out a sigh of relief.

The man, Zone, stood back up straight, "Hello, I am Zone. We are the Forest Owls."

"Zone," Watts informed the new leader, "Rinoa is not alive."

The man sighed, "I knew it."

"We are very sorry about what happened to her." Snow said. "Now, what's going on with the rest of the faction?"

"Somebody's been experimenting on the members who went out to look for help." Watts informed us, "lots of them died, some are still missing."

"So those doctors have been attacking within Sunleth Waterscape as well." Maqui said.

"You're saying some are still missing?" Yuj asked.

"Yes. Within the Waterscape."

"They are probably still out there." Gadot said.

"What if we investigate for you." Snow offered.

"Snow, we barely escaped from getting infused with Chaos ourselves. Now you want to go out and find it?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "These people need heros."

"These people need help. And they aren't going to find it from us." I countered.

"Actually," Hope spoke up, "maybe we should investigate this. Maybe it will help us figure out...our Focus."

"Your're-"

"Yes, we're L'Cie." Sazh quickly let them know. We were probably going to go through this whole introduction alot.

But instead of blaming us for Cocoon's Fall, they seemed to be more relieved. "Then it's no problem for you guys." Zone said happily.

"Well, let's go get stuff done." Snow said cheekily, stomping off. I wanted to trip him right then and there.

First he yells at _me_, for putting everything before Serah. Then he goes all 'These people need heros' and get us involved in other people's affairs, after we nearly escaped from the same fate. But everyone else seemed on board for it, so I had no other choice but to follow the stupid oaf into the Waterscape.

"It looks different since I last been here." Sazh informed us all, "it was snowin'."

"Remember," Snow said, "Cosmos came and revived Cocoon."

The Waterscape was no longer the bright green and flowery wilderness it was known for, but instead, the grass was dirt, and the trees were scarce of any leaves. It was only just now returning back to what it once was, but it could take years for it to return to it's healthy enviroment.

After much more walking, we came across Fang and Vanille's crystal pillar. "Are these where your friends are?" Lebreau asked, touching the crystal.

"Yeah." I answered.

"So..." Yuj began, "were they like...you know...lesbians?"

"Yuj!" Lebreau exclaimed.

Before any of us could answer, we heard the groan of an infused person. But something was strange about the figures approaching us. They seemed to have a grasp of their surroundings, and they did not attack right away.

"Who are you?" One of them asked, hunching over, his voice low and deep.

"Don't come any closer." Sazh ordered, drawing his guns.

"Hold on, Sazh." Maqui said, "I don't think they mean any harm."

"They don't mean any harm?" Hope asked. "They are filled with chaos, don't you see?"

"We are..." The man said, "but...we escaped."

"Escaped?" I questioned.

"Once you're filled with that stuff you're a goner." Gadot added, cocking his gun.

"That's what you might think," that same man continued, "but that is not the case. Some people can take in a little bit. The Chaos can not do any harm if you know how to harness it's powers."

"You mean if someone accepts it." Snow said.

"I don't believe you." I said, drawing my blade, pointing at the trio of spawns, "this could be another trick by Chaos. I will not be fooled again."

"I didn't expect you to believe me." The man said, "I was once part of the Forest Owls, until we were taken for experimentation."

"Wait," Hope said, "who's doing this? Is it Chaos?"

"Someone who works for Chaos." The man said.

"Where is this taking place?" I demanded.

The man suddenly cringed backing away and I kept my guard up. "It's almost time. We have to go."

"Go?" Lebreau said as the infused men ran off, "wait!" She chased after them. "They...their gone."

**General POV**

**Eden**

Bartholomew sat across from the Primarch in his dining room, at his mansion in Eden. The entire flight here including the walk to the dining room was filled with idle chatter. Mostly from the Primarch himself as Bartholomew remained mute, keeping his guard up.

He didn't have a weapon on him for if the man tried something funny, so he hoped for the best. Bartholomew tapped his finger against the dark green wooden table, patiently waiting for Vayne to finish beating around the bush and get to the point.

"What is it you want, Your Emminence," Bartholomew mentally winced at how he still addressed him as that after everything he did.

"Bartholomew," Vayne sighed, mimicking his movements, "do try to relax. They say frowning gives you wrinkles."

"I am not an idiot, Vayne. I know what you have done. You have hurt my people, caused destruction on our homes-"

"Such accusations," The handsome Primarch chuckled, taking a drink off his tea.

"Where is Serah?"

"I do not know."

"Do not lie to me." Bartholomew barked, he leaned over closely, "look me in the eye and say that again."

Vayne narrowed his eyes, but his smile remained. "Freci?"

One of the female servants quickly approached him, humming for an order. "What can I do for you, Your Emminence?"

"Fetch me my fiance."

"Right away, Your Emminence." She curtsied and scurried out of the dining hall.

Bartholomew raised a curious eyebrow, "Your fiance'?" He questioned.

"Have you not heard the news? It was all over the media."

"We do not have any electronics in Oerba." Bartholomew replied.

"You don't?" he asked, cocking his head to the side, "We will have to remedy that."

"Why are you doing this, Vayne?" Bartholomew asked, leaning forward, elbows on the table.

"I am in love." Vayne replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I have fallen in love with Serah Farron when I first laid eyes on her."

"And you claim to make her your bride even knowing she is engaged to another."

Vayne laughed, "you mean the rebel leader?" he stood up from his seat and approached his large window, the best view in all of Eden. You can see the entire city. "She is a beauty. An angel that has fallen from the heavens. He doesn't deserve her."

"And you do?" Bartholomew asked, not pleased with how he spoke of her.

"She deserves only the best. She deserves to wear the best clothes, live in the most luxurious home. Be given whatever she asks. She is a princess. She is my Lady."

The doors opened up at Serah arrived, her face sullen, and her eyes swollen from all the crying. When she saw Bartholomew, she looked about ready to cry again, that somebody she knew was here to potentially rescue her.

"Serah, my love." Vayne sighed approaching the younger Farron. He carressed her face and she gasped, leaning away from his touch. He pressed a kiss to her temple and she let out a sob.

"Is he here to take me home?" Serah asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No." Vayne laughed, bending over so he was looking at her in the eye, "He was just here for a visit. I told him of our wedding news, my dear. He is excited, aren't you Bartholomew?"

"I am disgusted!" Bartholomew yelled, standing from his feet, pushing his chair back with a loud screeching sound. "Can't you see that she is miserable here? How could you do this to a young girl?"

"She won't be happy in Oerba." Vayne argued for her. "I can't sit by and allow her to live on Pulse."

"There are bigger problems at stake here. The Chaos! What about the Chaos?"

Serah's eyes widened, having believed that the bigger threat had been eliminated. She felt her knees weaken and she struggled to keep her balance against the table. Vayne kept a hand to her back. "Freci, return my soon to be wife to her room."

"Yes, Your Emminence. This way, My Lady." Freci escorted the unresponsive Serah back to her room.

Bartholomew stared hard at the twisted Primarch. "I refuse to stand by and allow this to happen. Serah is going to come back home with me, and together we shall wait for her real fiance's return."

He walked past the Primarch, who didn't turn around. "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to leave." He spun on his heel. "Men."

Two of the Primarch's men blocked the exit, forcing Bartholomew to stop his stride.

"This really isn't about Serah." Vayne informed Bartholomew in a dangerously low voice.

Bartholomew grunted, facing the Primarch, "I know it isn't."

Vayne clicked his tongue, "Take my friend Bartholomew here, to the Narthex."

The men grabbed Bartholomew from eighter side of him. Knowing there was no use in fighting back, the Council leader, accepted his sentence.


	19. Blood on Hands

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: So...about Lightning Returns. I love her Cloud Soldier 1st Class Uniform! It's so perfect. I honestly love it when Lightning wears men outfits. She looks so hot in them.**

**As for kid Hope...I was actually looking forward to seeing an older Hope. But I think we still will. He has the voice and speech and demeanor as older Hope.**

**And OMG! Fang is back you guys! You have no idea how happy I was when I saw the trailer!**

**Warnings: Violence and Blood.**

**Lightning's POV**

**Sunleth Waterscape**

As we traveled through the Waterscape, we came across a shabby hut. It looked like it's been there for years, but not alot of people have ever mentioned this before. Standing outside stringing up laundrey was a much older woman with shoulder length gray hair wearing a raggedy dress.

She looked up upon our arrival. "Travelers," she sneered. "What brings a Guardian Corps Soldier, a retired pilot, a Bodhum rebel leader, a junior classman, an amateur gun specialist, a chef, a computer wizard, and a flamboyant man with an eye for fashion all this way to see me?" She said.

We kinda stood there surprised that she listed us off before she even knew our names. "Actually," I began, cleaing my throat, "we didn't come to see you."

"We didn't even know somebody lived out here." Sazh added, hands at his sides.

"Well, somebody does." The old woman said, continuing to string up her laundrey. "That somebody is me, and your are tresspassing."

"Wait," Maqui said, "do you know anything of the Chaos Infusions?"

"Is that what you call them?" The old woman asked with a wicked chuckle. "Haha."

"Do they go by another name?" Lebreau asked.

"No." The old woman replied, "We usually just call them 'those people that are filled with the power of Chaos.' 'Chaos Infusions'. That's quicker to say. That's one of the few things I like about young people, your creativity when coming up with names for things."

"Er, thanks?" Maqui said strangely.

It was hard to tell if the old woman was being serious or not. "And I take it you are searching for where these 'Chaos Infusions' are coming from?"

"You know?" Hope asked.

The old woman gave a wicked grin. "Wait right here." She wiped her hands on her dress and entered her shack.

Yuj then began to look around the front of the shack. "Yuj!" Maqui exclaimed in a whisper, "what are you doing? You better not take anything!"

"Relax, I was just curious." Yuj said, continuing to explore.

The door swung back open and the blue haired man jumped, making it seem like he wasn't up to anything bad. "There you go." The old woman handed Lebreau a fraying brown bag.

"What's in it?" Gadot asked trying to take a peek.

"Do not open it!" The old woman snapped, scaring the large man. "Only open it when you come across a tree with a light purple bark and pink leaves. It stands in the middle of a fog of Chaos."

"Meaning, we have to go out, inside that fog?" Hope asked. "But last time we did that..."

"Things did not go smoothly." Sazh answered.

"If everything was a smooth road straight ahead, it would hardly be called an adventure. Just boredom." The old woman said with an amused tone.

"Good point."

"So, when we find this tree." Lebreau continued, "we open the bag."

"Correct." The woman confirmed.

"What happens then?" I asked.

The old woman smiled michievously. "You will find out. You can't miss the cloud of Chaos. I can tell that you four," she pointed to the obvious four, "are L'Cie. You know how to shield yourselves as well as your other comrades away from the Chaos. Use that, and try to get to the center of the Chaos quickly. Before it wears off."

"How far is it to the center?" Snow asked.

"It depends how fast you walk." She then began nudging us toward our destination. "Go quickly. The longer you dawdle, another person is injected with the liquidfied form of Chaos."

"Thank you so much, ma'am." Sazh said. "You never told us your name."

The old woman began walking back towards her laundrey. "Names are pretty but useless. Now go on."

I noticed Hope glancing back at the woman, slowly following after us with a perplexed look on his face.

Ask him later I decided.

**General POV**

**The Narthex**

The Primarch's men threw Bartholomew within one of the small rooms that are now used as prison cells.

Of course it was the brightest and cleanest prison cell he's ever been to. Not that he's ever been to jail. He remembered Nora getting arrested once or twice when he was first dating her. She never really explained to him why she did. He figured that it was just in Nora's nature to get a little too feisty, landing her in sharing a cell with a woman twice her size.

The men shut the door and Bartholomew took a seat on the couch. He's seen the Narthex only once in his life, when he had first met Primarch Dysley. To think, this was where his son fought Orphan and caused Cocoon to crash.

Bartholomew realized that Cosmos and the Primarch worked inhumanly fast in rebuilding Cocoon and getting it back on it's feet. It has only been over two weeks.

Unfortunately for the Council leader, because he was trapped in this room, this gave him alot of time think about all that was going on. His son being a L'Cie still, off saving the world. Serah being forced to marry the Primarch for a motivation that was still left unclear. And Morrigan, and her baby.

There was also Dajh's lost of sight that was still on his mind. All of this was weighing down on Bartholomew's shoulders, and he prayed that Morrigan was handling things with Rygdea, Amodar, and Laguna back at home.

**Lightning's POV**

**Sunleth Waterscape**

The eight of us stood in front of the cloud of Chaos. "We got to go straight." I informed them.

"Easiar said than done, Light." Hope said, crossing his arms.

"We're gonna get so lost." Lebreau sighed, shaking her head, her black hair flairing around her.

"Okay, nobody panic." Sazh tried to reassure us all like he always does. "We're gonna get in, do what we gotta do, and stop this Chaos Infusion once and for all."

"I highly doubt it's once and for all, Sazh." Yuj muttered, hand on his hip.

"Care to do the honors, Boss?" Gadot asked.

Snow held up his arm, a blue glow resonating from his brand, "Pultis Amicus Veniant." We all glowed and then quickly made our way, trying to go straight.

It was barely a minute when all the boys from NORA including Snow began to argue about which way was straight. "What do you mean where's straight?" I barked.

"I feel like we're spinning." Maqui admitted.

"Spinning my ass," Gadot spat, "how does fog spin? I've never heard that happen in my life."

"But it feels like we're not going anywhere. Look, there's an opening right there," Maqui pointing beside us, and it did look like that was where we originally came from. "I think we're stuck."

"You can't see nothin' in this chaos." Sazh complained, squinting his eyes.

"So what do we do?" Lebreau asked.

"We gotta keep moving, you guys." Snow said. "We have to hurry and find that tree before this wears off."

It was another few minutes later when Hope finally spotted the tree along with Snow. We all quickly ran towards it, until we realized the tree was zooming passed us. "Wait! Where'd it go?" Yuj exclaimed.

"It's behind us!" Lebreau cried, pointing at the moving tree.

"Holy shit," Gadot swore, "we are spinnin'."

"Told you." Maqui gloated.

"I'm startin' to get dizzy now." Sazh mumbled grabbing his head. "How are we supposed to get to the tree."

"Do you remember playing on the merry-go-round?" Hope asked, "getting an idea."

"Yeah." Gadot replied. "I remembered trying to jump off while it was still moving."

"Exactly." Hope said, smiling brightly.

"So you think we should try getting onto the tree?" I asked.

"Actually, you'll be getting off the Chaos." Hope explained.

"That's why people get lost." Lebreau figured out. "The Chaos is the one spinning round and round. We're the ones going round and round."

"Again, I feel dizzy, y'all." Sazh continued to complain, teetering back and forth.

"Lebreau, come with me." I grabbed the younger woman's hand and forced my way, straight ahead, trying to keep my eye on the moving tree, trying to time it. "Okay, wait...wait...wait-"

"Jump!" Lebreau cried and the two of us jumped onto the tree. We can see the swarming cloud of Chaos spinning around, and on the other side of the tree was a black Chaos wall. I didn't dare touch it. "You want me to open the bag now?"

"Now would be a good time, yes." I said almost sarcastically.

Lebreau wrapped an arm around the tree branch and untied the bag with her teeth, and some sort of golden dust flew out of it gently. She dropped the bag from her mouth.

"What is this?" I asked.

The dust then lit up the tree, heating it up and burning our arms and hands. We let go as a reflex and we managed to fall back in the Chaos. The speed picking up again. I could feel the spell wearing off of us, and my head was beginning to spin as a result.

I can see the others starting to fall to their knees. I was worried that whatever we did didn't work, I suddenly noticed the Chaos getting split apart by little pixie creatures. It was like a fairytail. Lebreau and I stood on our feet, the rest of the group did the same across the way from us.

"_Thank you for giving us our life energy_," A tiny high pitched voice said, a little golden fairy floating inbetween Lebreau and I.

Lebreau smiled looking amazed and facinated by the little pixies, "You're welcome."

"We're trying to get to where the Chaos Infusions are coming from. Do you know where it is?" I asked.

"_Of course_!" The pixie blew on a very loud horn, gaining the attention of the rest of the swarm. "_Sisters, break down the wall_!"

"Yea!" They all shouted in a chorus and followed the leader to the giant black wall.

"Back up, Lebreau," I told the younger woman and we backed up just as the wall seemingly imploded into pixie dust. The pixies cheered then flew out throughout the Waterscape.

"_Thank you again_!" The leader said, flying away.

"Wow..." Yuj sighed, watching them fly away. Not before dropping their own magic and helping restore the Waterscape back to the way it was before. The trees regained their leaves, the grass grew from beneath our feet, and flowers bloomed.

It was like a scene from a fairytale.

"And here I thought the only strange things we'll see will be bad." Sazh muttered.

"There is so much we don't know about Gran Pulse," Hope began, "but...to think, these things were probably always here, keeping the Waterscape alive. And we didn't know it."

"And I thought the Sanctum ran the Watercape." Snow said.

"I guess they tried to." Lebreau responded. "Come on, let's keep going."

**General POV**

**Oerba**

Vaan was falling for Terra. Even though he swore he wasn't going to force her into a relationship she didn't want, it didn't stop Vaan's love from blossoming. He honestly never felt this way for another woman before.

He was never a ladiesman like his brother was, he was so busy trying to be there for his twin sister. He'd like girls from time to time, but he never realy went out of his way to spend time with them.

He thought that was only because they ended up liking his more handsome older brother.

Terra was definitely not like the other women. She was focused, strong in mind, body, and heart. And brave. She had a very tragic past, but that never stopped her from helping others. She was also very smart, it was like she knew so much.

Maybe it was because she's been around for over fifty years. Even though she was in crystal stasis when she was eighteen for almost twenty years.

Vaan decided to go to somebody who seemed to be a love expert. He usually went to his brother, but he realized he never ever helped him.

"So you want to 'woo', Terra?" Laguna asked, looking up from his notebook.

"Uh...yes?" Vaan said, not too sure as to what Laguna was referring to.

"You like the older women, huh?" Laguna laughed, leaning back against his chair as he sat on the Village Proper.

Morrigan was also sitting nearby, tuning out the men. She didn't care about the topic of love.

"It's not just the fact she's older." Vaan said. "I think I'm in love with her. She's not like the other women I've known. She's different."

"Meaning," Morrigan joined in anyway, "she isn't flaky, weak, and overly dependant like most women in this generation."

"Exactly," Vaan said, not getting Morrigan was just speaking to speak.

"Hey, there isn't anything wrong with a woman who can't do everything by herself." Laguna argued.

"To each his own." Morrigan muttered, propping her feet up against an empty chair.

"Do you need anything, Morrigan?" Vaan asked considerately.

"No. I am quite fine."

Just as Vaan left, Vera made her way to the Proper making the pregnant woman roll her eyes is dislike while Laguna sat up, since Vera was a beautiful woman. And Laguna loves beautiful women.

He had been excited when Morrigan was taking over for Bartholomew while he was with the Primarch, but he realized that she was such a cynical and bitter woman that Laguna was scared to even look at her.

She had smacked him in the back of her head with a tree branch twice for staring at her breasts. And once more for persisting in trying to converse with her.

"Hello, Vera," Laguna greeted. "Is there anything you need?"

"Yes, I have a complaint."

"Joy..." Morrigan muttered, unamused by Vera's prescence.

The young blonde glared at Morrigan. "I don't like living by myself. Can I move in with somebody?"

"You can move in with me." Laguna offered.

"She cannot. You are already living with your son, Tifa, and her daughter." Morrigan reminded the PSICOM soldier.

"I actually would want eighter to move in with Reks, or Reks to move in with me."

"You two fools are an item now?" Morrigan said, rolling her eyes for the upteenth time that day.

"Oh, yes." Vera confirmed, disappointing Laguna, "we're totally together. He's just so hot-"

"I just realized..." Morrigan said, closing her eyes and pinching her nose. "I don't care."

"Morrigan," Laguna whispered, "You're in charge of the village while Bartholomew is gone."

"Tis only temporary. All I am here to do is make sure the village does not burn to the ground. Twice. Tis not my problem if this child is lonely."

"I'm eighteen." Vera corrected.

"Still a child. You still act like a child."

"At least I'm not having a child. Alone!" Vera bit back pathetically.

Morrigan rose an eyebrow, "Oh, this is coming from the girl who fell down the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down."

"You whore."

"You are the whore. The baby's father is dead. My husband."

Vera's eyes widened as well as Laguna's.

"Walk away from me, I really do not want to look at your mousy little face."

Vera walked away, swiftly, most likely embaressed for insulting Morrigan's dead husband.

"Did your husband really die?" Laguna asked as Morrigan stood up.

She shook her head, struggling to keep the smile off her face. "No."

**Lightning's POV**

**Sunleth Waterscape**

"What are we looking for exactly?" Snow asked.

"I dunno." Gadot answered, "a lab maybe?"

"Why would there be a lab in the middle of the Waterscape without anyone knowing?" Lebreau asked.

We then heard the groans of the Chaos Infusions straggling our way. They were the same as the ones that spoke earliar. "Come no further." The leader ordered.

"We're close." Sazh pointed out, drawing his guns.

I noticed that these Chaos Infusions were bigger that the others. They were actually noticebly bigger than Gadot, almost sizing up Snow's larger stature. "If you do not step down, we will be forced to act."

I drew my gunblade, aiming my sword, provoking them. "Then come and get it, you corrupted bastards."

That did the trick and the burly Chaos Infusions charged at us, without weapons. "Pultis Amicus Veniant!" I chanted.

But instead of glowing we only flickered. I wanted to facepalm. We just used the spell, and it was too late. The Chaos Infusions collided with us.

When I finally came to, it was nighttime. We must have had a real blow to the head. I looked around and the only comrade that was awake was Lebreau. She was looking around amongst us.

Hope was a little ways from me and I crawled over to him, shaking him awake. He grunted and coughed but seemed fine and sat up. Everyone else got up as well. "What was that?" Hope whispered.

"No idea." I said. We were perfectly fine. Did the spell work after all?

"Gadot?" Lebreau called out. Maqui fixed the goggles on his head and allowed Snow to help him to his feet.

Sazh was popping his back into place, "yeah. Let's not do that again."

"I'm sorry." I apologized, "that was...stupid."

"Yeah, no kidding." Yuj muttered. I glared at him and he just shrugged.

"Guys!" Lebreau's voice rose, "Gadot's gone."

"Are you sure?" Sazh asked.

"He's not around here." She said trying to keep herself from panicking.

"Maybe he went off somewhere." Snow tried to reassure the younger woman. "Gadot!" he called. "Hey buddy! Where you at?"

"Gadot?" Maqui joined in calling him.

"Look, his gun!" Hope picked up the tanned man's weapon that was left lying on the ground.

"Shit!" Lebreau swore. "What happened to him?"

I went on ahead in the direction we were set on. "This way, everyone." I ordered.

Nobody argued surprisingly. What else could we do? We had no idea where Gadot was. My stride was cut short when I felt somebody pull me back roughly. I was about to snap at whoever it was when I realized it was Hope.

He put a finger to his mouth letting me know I had to keep quiet. He pointed behind me and I saw the door leading inside a secret laboratory camofloged by a cliff, covered in green plants. It was closing!

"Hurry!" I barked back the others, quickly rushing into the opening just as it was getting ready to close. The door almost caught Maqui, and he landed clumsily against Snow's large back, and he backed away, blushing slightly.

It was dark and barren and we heard somebody crying down the hall. It sounded like a small child. "No! Please! Let me go! Ah-"

Hope's breath hitched and I felt him grab the back of my coat. "Come on," I whispered.

"Sis, wait," Snow barked in a whisper, "we can't just charge in guns blazing. They may have Gadot."

"Why would they want Gadot?" I asked, looking up at the much taller man.

"I don't know. But what if they do have him. We were all out cold. They could have taken him at that time."

I then remembered the size of those Chaos Infusions that we encountered in the first place. Maybe they needed people his size. It still didn't make sense. But I couldn't think on it now as the child's cry became more unbearable and louder.

Hope barreled past Snow and I. "Hope!" I called out to him.

"Stop!" Snow also screamed.

"Come on," Sazh exclaimed following after Hope.

I ran after him into a room, and sitting there was a Chaos infused child, growing until he was about Yuj's size. I roughly pulled Hope back, angry that he tried to pull a stunt like this. What was he trying to do in the first place? "Hope, we have to get out of here, we can't take on-"

"**Ah**!" I heard a low and deep man scream.

"That's Gadot!" Lebreau recognized, aiming her rifle at another door, where the scream came from.

"Gadot, we're comin' buddy!" Snow hollered and barreled past the transforming child and unthinkably kicked the door down. He was thrown back by a Chaos Infusion. The one that we had encountered.

"I told you to stay away." He groaned.

"You've taken one of our own. Why?" I questioned.

Once again Hope ran ahead, unthinkably and managed to dodge away from the Chaos Infusion. I had no other choice. I reached into my chest and pulled out my Eidolith. "Odin." I whispered. I threw it in the air and jumped up, breaking it open with my gunblade.

During the distraction, the other members avoided the Chaos Infusion to help Gadot out of the room with Hope. I jumped down as Odin knowingly transformed into his gesault mode. They threw Gadot over Odin, in front of me.

"Get out of here, all of you!" I ordered, and they all did as I told them too.

"What are you gonna do, Soldiergirl?" Sazh asked me.

**General POV**

Everybody fled out of the secret laboratory. "What about Gadot and Lightning?" Lebreau asked.

"Their comin'." Snow said, "Go, go, go!"

Everyone quickly made their way back to the Forest Owls camp. Snow saw the laboratory collapse, the rocks falling down like an earthquake only hit it. Odin, with Lightning and a weakened Gadot escaped last minute.

Lightning jumped off of Odin, helping Gadot to his feet as he began to cough, leaning heavily against Lightning. Snow approached them. "Well?" He asked.

Lightning looked up at her future brother in law sympatheticaly, and showed him the mark on Gadot's neck. Snow staggered back, like the wind was knocked out of him. "No..."

**Oerba**

Tifa was having a hectic day at work. Without Lebreau to handle the cooking, the responsibilty fell onto Tifa to cover both day and night duty. There was nobody else availiable to handle the job. And she was starting to feel the effects of lack of sleep.

Today, all Squall asked for was for some soup. Tifa brushed her long dark hair out of her face and quickly hustled behind the counter to retrieve Squall's order. Tidus was also asking for soup for Yuna, since she was still injured, and the blitzball player didn't know how to cook himself.

Dajh was sitting at the counter with Marlene and Ainu and when he went to take another gulp of his juice, realized the cup was empty. Not aware of Tifa's full hands, he innocently asked for some more juice.

Marlene (who was supposed to be helping her) was instead having a race with Ainu to see who can finish their milk the quickest. A competition Tifa remembered banning when Ainu threw up the other day because of this.

So after Tifa refilled Dajh's juice, she heard Squall demand for his soup for the third time, claiming he had to get back to watch duty. A job that was requested by him ever since the attack in Oerba.

Tifa was at her breaking point, having been annoyed with everyone's demands and was about to pass out from exhaustion.

Dajh accidently bumped into Tidus who let out an 'uh oh', as he spilled alot of Yuna's soup on the floor. Tifa, her head racing, didn't notice the spill until she had ran passed it and slipped backward, the hot soup about to spill all over Tifa.

But instead of getting drenched in boiling hot soup and falling, most likely bashing her head against the counter or floor, Cloud suddenly appeared and caught Tifa, letting the soup pour all over his blue turtleneck.

Tifa gasped when she looked up into Cloud's bright blue eyes, having not expected for him to have come to her rescue. Tidus stepped back and Squall jumped from his seat at the commotion.

"Is everyone alright?" Dajh asked concerned.

Tifa didn't say anything, she just stared at Cloud as he helped her back to her feet.

"I am so sorry, Tifa!" Tidus apologized. "I'll clean this right away." He quickly shoved the soup bowl to his son who happened to be standing by him.

"Cloud?" Squall questioned, approaching the couple.

"Tifa," Cloud said, ignoring the brunette soldier. "When was the last time you got proper rest?"

"Uh..." Tifa's mind was blank, still surprised about what happened. She then felt symptons and Cloud felt her forhead with his arm.

"You're burning up." He said.

"I'm fine. I'm..." Tifa then fainted in his arms, after the exhaustion.

"Tifa!" Cloud exclaimed.

"Take her to the clinic." Squall ordered.

**Eden**

"Your Emminence!" A large man with a heavy gray beard bowed down as Vayne arrived at a play theater with Serah, looking miserable. "We are honered to have you come here to _our_ theater!"

"Well when I heard you were performing 'I am It', I just had to come. It's one of my favorite stories. I don't believe my wife to be has seen it. Have you?"

Serah shook her head, mute.

"She's shy." Vayne said and he and the large man laughed making Serah shiver.

"The play will be starting shortly, allow me to show you to your seats."

"Hold, my good man. I have a request." Vayne said. "Would you mind escorting Serah backstage. I'm sure she would like to meet her friend."

Serah looked up in surprise at the strange request.

"Of course, Your Emminence. This way, my lady." The large man wrapped a large arm around her making Serah gasp in surprise.

He forced her to the back of the theater, where many of the actors were preparing. They were rehearsing lines, tailoring costumes. That was when Serah saw a familiar woman at a makeup table.

"Oh!" Ruby squealed when she saw Serah's reflection in the mirror. She stood up, wearing a yellow and green revealing dress, her face make up resembling a butterfly's wings. Her hair was pinned up. She almost didn't recognize her. "Serah!" The woman embraced the young girl into her arms.

For the first time, Serah felt safe. Even though she wasn't very close with Ruby, she was the only person she knew in Eden. Serah cried onto her arm, making the actress gently push Serah off at arms length. "Whoa, be careful, or you'll get make up on this dress." She warned.

"I'm sorry." Serah sobbed, covering her face.

"Hey, sweetie, what's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?" Ruby asked, "I heard about your marriage to the Primarch. Lucky. What happened to you and Snow? You know I kind of knew it wasn't going to work out between you two. He was kind of...okay he was kind of hot. I mean really hot! I mean Whoo! He was sexy for a rebel. Ah!"

Serah didn't even follow everything that came out of Ruby's mouth.

"Of course, he don't compare to my man candy, Jude- _How is he?_ I haven't heard from him in so long. I miss him tons! And so does Harry! He goes to an Academy now. Can you believe it! He's here tonight-"

Serah just cried, as Ruby continued to babble.

"Oh no, have I upset you? Enough about me, tell me about you..."

**The Narthex**

Bartholomew has been trapped in the Narthex cell all day. Sitting on the same couch, staring up at the lights. The doors opened up and a woman with blonde hair wearing a more fitted leather version of the Primarch's uniform entered.

She held up a pair of handcuffs.

**Lightning's POV**

**Sunleth Waterscape - Forest Owls Camp**

Snow and I carried Gadot back to the camp. Lebreau jumped from where she sat around the Forest Owls campfire running towards us. "Gadot!" She cried.

"Lebreau wait," I said, standing inbetween them. She watched me in confusion, then her eyes darkened in realization.

"No..." She whispered. She walked around me to look at Gadot. The man winced, skin glistening with sweat as his fever continued. "Etro no...but...he looks fine!"

"A doctor had stuck a syringe in his throat as I came in." Hope spoke up, approaching us. "I pulled it out, but I think some still got injected in."

"A..." Lebreau looked desperate, "a little won't hurt him, right? He can handle a little. He's..." she let out a bitter laugh, tears pricking her eyes, "he's a big guy. He can handle a little bit."

"That's true." Hope said, "he would have turned into those things by now. We should just watch over him through the night to make sure. That's okay right?" he asked Zone.

"He can stay in my tent." Zone offered. "It's clean, I promise."

"Come on, man," Snow whispered to the delirious Gadot, "you're gonna make it, buddy."

"Just hold on." Lebreau whispered, helping Gadot.

I watched them silently and Hope walked after them.

It wasn't long before the camp was suddenly ambushed by what appeared to be assassins. I drew my gunblade as everyone hurried into a battle position. "Hope!" I called out to the silver haired teenager who only just left his tent, "stay in the tent and take care of Gadot!"

He hesitated at first but then returned to the tent where Gadot was. One of the assassin's grabbed Maqui and he hollered in surprise. "Got you, punk!" The assassin claimed.

I shot him in the hand, startling the leading assassin and making him let go of Maqui. The blonde shook in fright and turned around, stepping back. The assassins were no match against us, and they were easily dispatched. I approached the leader and aimed my gunblade at his throat. "Who are you?" I demanded.

"You..." Maqui trailed off seeming to know the man. "Is she here?"

The man nodded.

"Where?" Maqui asked.

"Our base camp, is near where the Seabus Docks are." he responded.

When it seemed that was all the information we were going to get out of him, I shot him in the forhead instantly killing him. Maqui stepped back even further, seeming lost and Yuj tried to console him. "Hey, man," the blue haired man said, "you alright?"

"No!" Maqui exclaimed, sounding like he was about to cry. "I'm not. She found me."

"Who found you?" Sazh asked, holstering his guns.

Maqui stared up at us, it seemed only Sazh and I were out of the loop here. "My mother."

"Your mother?" Sazh asked. "I thought you were all orphans."

"Well, might as well be." Yuj stated, rubbing Maqui's back to console him.

"And why is your mother sending assassins your way?" I asked, finding the story perplexing.

The blonde teenager looked around shyly and awkwardly. "Before Cocoon's fall...she was a spy. A Sanctum spy. She often used me to hack into computers after she got fired."

"What happened?" Sazh asked.

"About two years ago," Maqui began his story, "my mother was getting to know too much of the Sanctum secrets. The Sanctum never was specific about what secrets. I never looked at the files I stole. Only my mother did. I just helped her get them. She would always tell me how proud she was to have a son like me to help do things for her. I was fifteen and I knew I was doing something illegal, but..."

Maqui scratched the back of his head, "Eventually, the Sanctum was able to track us using the computers we used. And I took the heat. They knew I was working for her, they knew I was her son. And I waited for my mom to get me out...but she never came. She fled Eden. And nobody heard from her again...until now."

"How did you get out?" I asked.

"Eventually I was able to break myself out. And I ran as far away from Eden as I possibly could go. Nobody came after me. I then found myself in Bodhum. That's when Snow helped me." He looked up at the larger man who smiled, remembering when he first met him.

"And now she's back again." Sazh stated, "what would she want from you now?"

"I don't know. She's still my mother you guys."

"She doesn't sound far. Seabus Docks."

"Gathering information is my specialty, sir." Watts suddenly said, "The Seabus Docks is thataway!"

"Snow, Yuj, we're going after her." I ordered.

"Lightning, why are you doing this?" Maqui asked.

"Because your mother is getting in the way." I informed him, not even bothering to sugarcoat anything.

Maqui didn't seem offended. Instead he pulled the goggles over his eyes and started walking in the direction Watts pointed in, us following behind him.

**General POV**

**Oerba Village**

"Son!" Laguna exclaimed when he entered Tifa's bar, and Squall cringed at his father's voice. When Laguna spotted the purple butterfly apron wrapped around his waist, he couldn't keep the amused grin off his face.

Squall's cheeks flushed. "I didn't ask to where this. I kept spilling things." He said.

"So you're taking care of the bar?" Laguna asked.

"Just until Tifa gets better." Squall informed his father, serving beer to Amodar. "Did you need something, Laguna?"

"What do you got, bartender?"

Squall glared at him, then rolled his eyes, "Oh, whatever."

Tidus was a fussy husband. After Tifa was brought in to Yuna's clinic, Cloud was adamant on getting Yuna. She was the best nurse the village.

But she was in fact still recovering from her gunshot wound. So Tidus decided to take care of Tifa for her. Cloud, knew Tidus isn't a good nurse. In fact, Tidus had to be one of the most reckless people he ever met.

So it wasn't until the fight escalated to the point Cloud was ready to wring Tidus's neck did Tifa jump out of bed and punched both of the men in the head. "Shut up, both of you!" She snapped, but then prompty passed out against Cloud, her fever rising.

"Tifa, you're ill." Cloud stated to an unconcious Tifa.

The clinic doors opened and Yuna walked in, having looked like she just rolled out of bed. "Yuna!" Tidus exclaimed, "you're hurt. You can't be in here."

"What happened to Tifa?" The brown haired nurse asked, sounding croaky.

"Oh no, you too?" Tidus said, feeling her forhead. "Cloud, all the women got fevers."

"It's just the flu." Cloud informed the worried husband, "And with Yuna's gunshot and Tifa's exhaustion, it escalated to a worser condition."

Tidus stared at Cloud for a long moment, "are you a nurse too?" Yuna sneezed against Tidus's cheek, and he reflextively tossed her toward Cloud who she began coughing on. Cloud angrily but lightly nudged her towards an empty cot, and glared at Tidus for making him catch the virus.

**Sunleth Waterscape - Forest Owls Camp**

Hope and Lebreau continued to watch over Gadot and his fever. He was beginning to breathe heavily through his mouth. "I'm sure it's just a cold, Lebreau," Hope tried to reassure the dark haired woman.

"He wouldn't be getting sick just now." Lebreau brought up, rubbing circles on the back of Gadot's hand.

"But I'm sure he would have turned by now." Hope added. Lebreau remained silent.

"When are Snow and the others getting back?" She asked.

"I don't know."

"_**Hope Estheim!**_" A woman's low and husky voice sang out suddenly. The silver haired teen looked at Lebreau in confusion. He didn't recognize the voice. "_**Oh Hope, come out, come out, wherever you are.**_"

Hope was about to exit the tent but Lebreau grabbed his hand preventing him from exiting.

"_**Hope, I know you're out here...**_"

"Who is that?" Hope asked mostly to himself. He didn't recognize the voice at all no matter how hard he tried to remember.

"_**I have something that belongs to you...**_"

"Hope?"

"Dad?" Hope whispered when he heard his father's voice as well. "Where are the others?" He whispered to Lebreau and she shrugged.

"Hope," That same woman said, "if you don't show yourself now, I'll blow your daddy's brains out, you hear?"

The teenager peeked through the flap of the tent, and she was in fact having a gun trained at the back of Bartholomew's head.

"You love your daddy, don't you?" The woman continued to tease, "now, I need you to come out of your hiding place with your hands up. If you come peacefully, nobody gets hurt..."

"Why does she want me?" Hope whispered again. Lebreau kept a hand on his back. The two evaluated the Primarch's assassins. How did the Primarch find them? And why did they capture Hope's father?

"There's ten of them." Lebreau whispered to Hope.

"Now, I'm going to count to three..." The woman continued to tease.

"How far can your boomerang travel?" Lebreau continued whispering to Hope.

"One..."

"You shoot down the farthest half." Hope told the dark haired woman.

"Two..."

"What about your dad?" Lebreau whispered.

"Three-"

Hope ran out of the tent and threw his boomerang taking down the closest half while Lebreau did as Hope told her and shot down the half farthest away with her rifle. The woman assassin was quick too and was about to shoot Bartholomew when Hope sent a lightning spell at Bartholomew.

"Ah!" Bartholomew cried as he was sent back, head hitting against the cliff. He shook as the current flowed through him.

Sazh, who has been on standby, shot down assassins that were attempting to ambush Lebreau. The Forest Owls fought off the rest of the assassins, as Watts and Zone hid in the tent with Gadot.

Hope caught the boomerang and dodged a bullet that the woman assassin trained on him. He slashed his blade and she blocked it. The silver haired teenager whipped out the survival knife in his pocket and when she pushed him back, he shoved the knife up her throat.

She sputtered blood onto his arm and dropped her gun, the pistol glattering onto the ground. Her eyes were wide in surprise and Hope pulled the knife away. She crumpled to the ground, lifelessly. Hope dropped the knife and boomerblade, the fight over. He hurried to where his father was struggling to sit up. "Dad?" Hope asked.

Bartholomew coughed, "Are you okay?"

The silver haired teenager laughed, "I should be asking you the same thing. Sorry I hit you with lightning." He helped his father to his feet.

Sazh and Lebreau approached the assassin leader's crumpled form. "She works for Vayne?" Sazh asked.

"Yeah." Bartholomew answered. He saw the gash in her neck, blood still spurting out. The thought that it was his fourteen year old son that killed her...he swallowed hard.

"How did she get you?" Hope asked worried.

"Vayne came to Oerba. Invited me out to lunch." Bartholomew pushed his glasses up. "Of course, it was more of a discussion than an outing. He has Serah. And is planning on marrying her."

"Yeah, we heard about that." Sazh said, crossing his arms. "Did you see her?"

"Yes." Bartholomew confirmed. "She is agonized over there. Being forced into this marriage. When I told him that I have to take her home, he threw me in the Narthex. He uses it as a prison it seems."

"You shouldn't have told him what you were going to do." Lebreau said.

"Indeed. That woman there seemed to know where you were from a source. The source's son was among you."

"Maqui's mother." Lebreau said. "She's working for the Primarch too."

"The Primarch's assassins seem to know everything about us. And they knew that Hope was a L'Cie and my son. So they planned to lure him out to save me. Surely, Lightning and the others would have come out to help. She thought she'd capture you all just like that. She underestimated my son."

"Yeah no kidding." Sazh muttered, glancing down at the woman now dead.

"They're not even here." Lebreau said. "Snow and Lightning left with Maqui and Yuj to seek out Maqui's mother. But if she's the source."

"You think they are in a lot of trouble?" Hope asked, worried for their wellbeing.

**Lightning's POV**

**Seabus Docks**

The four of us arrived at the electric fence that seperates the Waterscape from the Train station. We hide behind the cliffs, not wanting to be spotted by the assassins. "Can you summon your pony?" Yuj asked.

I glared at the blue haired man, "he is not a pony." I clarified. "He's a stallion."

"...he's a pony."

"Yuj," Snow warned, "now's not the time to get on Sis's bad side."

I reached into my chest and retrieved the Eidolith. "Odin." I whispered.

Like in the secret laboratory, Snow and the rest of the NORA boys charged in, guns blazing. Snow boosted them over the fence and continued to take out the trained assassins. Odin leaped over the tall fence. My Eidolon turned in a three sixty and I swooped up a handful of assassins with my broad swords.

Lightning magic enhanced the blades, now split apart and I soared them outward, the bolts of electricity zapping about taking down more men.

"Stop!" A woman with short blonde hair, slightly spiky at the ends emerged from the train station.

Maqui aimed his gun at the approaching woman. "Mom..." he said.

"Maqui." She acknowleged, her voice holding a no nonsense tone. It almost reminded me of Col. Nabaat. I hopped off of Odin, dismissing him, but kept my eyes peeled for any more assassins. "It has been a while."

"You work for the new Primarch now?" He asked.

"Yes. Most of the Sanctum officials are."

"Why are you here?" he asked. "You left me to rot in jail. I was only fifteen mom-"

"Maqui, dear..." she said, though her voice was far from motherly. "You really think this is about you?" The blonde lowered his gun slightly in surprise. "I don't want you. I want _them_. The woman and your leader." I kept my gunblade trained on her in case she tried anything funny, but I still expected an assassin to appear to finish the job. "They are L'Cie. The Primarch wants them eliminated. Fear they would get in the way of his plans."

"Serah belongs to us!" Snow claimed, anger causing his body to tremble.

"Too late." She teased, "he has already claimed her."

"Damn you." I swore. How dare she talk about Serah like she was just an object.

"Men-"

Before she could even finish giving out the order, I tackled Maqui to the ground just as a bullet shot where his head once was. I quickly aimed my gun behind me taking down assassins with Yuj. Snow forced Maqui's mother onto the ground and Maqui aimed the gun at her head.

He hesitated. Now I sensed that was really the last of the men. The woman glared up at her son as Snow still had her pinned down. "Go ahead."

Maqui's tears trailed down his cheeks. "Why..." He begged.

She struggled against Snow and Maqui pulled the trigger, silencing her for good. He dropped his gun and fell onto his knees, throwing up. Yuj kneeled beside him patting his back as Maqui sobbed.

I exchanged a look with Snow who had climbed off the woman.

**General POV**

**Oerba Village**

Vaan waited for Terra to come home that day. And it brought a warm smile to her face when she did arrive in the house she shared with Vaan and Reks to find the former sleeping by the window, having been waiting for her to arrive.

She had been staying late helping the kids get some studying done, since she was in charge of both her own students as well as Serah's. She also had heard about the accident at Tifa's bar and had checked up on Squall to help a load off.

She didn't get home til very late. And she was sure Vaan and Reks were bushed after taking over Maqui's store, Lenora's Garage. Lenora's Garage and Tifa & Lebreau's Bar/Restaraunt were the most popular places in Oerba.

She tucked a strand of hair behind Vaan's ear and he woke up. "Welcome home, Terra."

"Thank you Vaan." She said, softly. "How was your day?"

Before Vaan could answer they heard a knock on the door. Terra opened it and was surprised to see a distress Vera standing there. "Where's Reks?" She asked, marching into the house.

"Come on in." Terra mumbled, closing the door behind her.

"He went to bed." Vaan answered.

Vera rudely barged into the room that Vaan shared with his older brother, and he and Terra quickly followed the woman in the dark room. She turned on the light and shouted. "Reks!"

He sat up, startled and hair a mess. "Vera?" He asked, eyes bleary with sleep.

"You left me waiting at the restaraunt!" Vera barked. "Squall had to kick me out."

"Why were you waiting there?" Reks asked.

Smack!

Vaan and Terra winced.

"Our date!" Vera screamed. "We had a date?"

"You had a date?" Vaan asked.

"...I had a date?"

Smack!

"Vera! That's enough!" Terra lectured.

Vera scoffed, flipping her hair. "You're not my mother!"

"Thank goodness." Terra muttered for the second time in under five minutes.

"Look," Vaan helped his brother out, "you can't barge into somebody's house, screaming like that."

"Maybe if your brother remembers important things like our date, I wouldn't be screaming at him." She hollered.

"Okay, okay!" Reks whined, "I'll come over. I'll be there..." he began nodding off.

"Now!" Vera demanded.

"Comin' coming!" Reks grumbled, pulling his pants back on. Terra and Vaan left the room giving the older brother some privacy.

**Lightning's POV**

**Sunleth Waterscape - Forest Owls Camp**

We returned back to the camp, not having said a word. But my heart raced when I saw Sazh shoveling, bodies sitting off to the side. They were even more assassins. "They ambushed you?" I asked.

"Is everyone alright?" Yuj asked.

"Everyone's fine. And Bart's here."

"Bartholomew?" I asked.

"He's inside the tent where Gadot is." Sazh finished explaining.

I rushed towards the tent, throwing open the flap. Hope, Bartholomew, and Lebreau were squished inside, Gadot seeming to become worse. Bartholomew filled me on what happened while I was gone.

"Dammit." I muttered, watching as Hope tried his best to heal him, "Serah..."

"I actually have an idea on what to do next." Bartholomew told me. "We need to go to Bodhum."

"We can't do that." Hope explained, "the last time I was there it was hell. We almost didn't make it out."

"Trust me Hope."

"I'm gonna go see Maqui." Lebreau announced, "he just lost his mother." She stood up swiftly and exited the tent.

We remained in silence for a few moments. "Hope?" Bartholomew questioned.

"Was it something Morrigan said?" The silver haired teenager asked.

"How did you-"

"Yeah, I had Rygdea spy on you two. I already knew about the book."

Bartholomew narrowed his eyes, glancing between Hope and I. He sighed, pushing up his glasses. "There are people living among Chaos. People on our side. We need to go there and seek them out."

"You know how dangerous that is?" I questioned, walking towards him. "We can't exactly just fly in and hope they don't recognize us. They can sense our powers."

"Not if you wear the armor."

"And where are we going to get this uniform?"

Bartholomew smiled, "I'm sure you can figure something out."

I exited the tent, and saw Snow sitting by the fire, his face looking pained as he continued to deeply think. "Don't hurt yourself." I commented.

He looked up at me unamused. In fact he looked offended. "I'm worried about Serah."

I groaned, "you heard."

"I was listening in. Couldn't fit inside the tent." Snow said, staring into the fire, slipping his durag off.

"Snow I-"

"I know." Snow cut me off. "You're...you're right. She's safest there. Incredibly unhappy...but safe." He groaned loudly, scratching the back of his neck. "Gadot better be fucking alright."

"He hasn't turned...yet." I said, looking back at the tent. "Hope's been healing him nonstop from what I can tell."

Snow remained silent, staring off and clutching his engagement necklace.

**General POV**

Sazh entered the tent where Hope and Bartholomew were. "Hey." Sazh greeted, "how is he doin'?"

"He's having trouble breathing." Hope informed the older man.

Gadot wheezed and coughed, his skin shining with sweat. Hope tried to concentrate on casting esuna on him, but with no luck. "Hope," Sazh said, hand on Hope's tensing back as he pressing both hands over Gadot's chest. "Hey, get some rest, you can't be using that much magic."

"I can handle it." Hope said behind clenched teeth as he tried harder. "Need you all to please leave the tent. Gadot's fever is rising and all this body heat in such a confined space isn't helping."

Bartholomew bit his lip in worry for his son and Sazh had to nudge Bartholomew out of the tent. As soon as they left Lebreau poked her head in. "I know you said-"

"I understand." Hope answered, feeling exhausted from all the energy he was using. "You can come back in."

Lebreau quickly slipped in and pressed a hand to Gadot's forhead.

"How's Maqui?" Hope asked.

"He's outside the tent. If you want to talk to him." Lebreau said.

Hope hesitantly stop conjuring up healing magic, letting out a sigh. He stood on his feet, feeling the exhaustion weighing him down. He exited the tent and Maqui was sitting outside, away from the others. He looked up at the fourteen year old.

The silver haired teenager plopped down in front of the mourning Maqui. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "About your mom."

Maqui didn't say anything at first. "...she never loved me." He pushed the goggles that were over his eyes back onto the top of his head, and inhaled sharply. "She only pretended to until I was no longer useful. She didn't even come to see me. I just happened to be there."

"Were you the one to..." Hope trailed off, pulling his legs up and resting his chin on the top of his knees.

"Yeah..." Maqui answered, propping his elbow on his knee and resting his head against his hand. "Even though I was the one who killed...even when I saw her die...I didn't feel anything."

Hope stared at Maqui across from him, waiting for him to continue.

"It was like...she was already dead...and the woman I killed was just a ghost. She wasn't really my mother. She was gone...a long time ago."

"Maqui..." Hope whispered.

"What did you feel like when your mom died?"

Hope flinched when he said that, the memories flooding back quickly. He tucked his legs under him, looking down at his hands that were fisted against his pants. "First...I was shocked. Like that didn't really happen. Then...I became...angry. At the Sanctum...at Snow. I blamed him for her death for a week."

Maqui seemed surprised, having never heard the story of Operation Nora.

"All the hatred continued to eat away at me...it was...a dark time for me." Hope quickly dismissed the topic. "Maqui, NORA is your family. Your family has always been there for you."

The blonde smiled at watery smile, the tears threatening to spill out. "You're right. Thanks Hope. I know that now."

The teenagers looked up as Yuj approached them. "Hey, how you doin'?" he asked his bestfriend.

"Much better." Maqui replied.

Yuj grinned, "Good. For a while there I thought you were gonna be all angsty. With Snow getting all mopey and Gadot on a deathbed..."

"Gadot's gonna be fine, Yuj." Hope said.

"Hm, I hope so."

Meanwhile, Sazh had led Bartholomew to where some Forest Owls were fixing the airship. "There's a hospital nearby?" Bartholomew noticed, "why didn't you take Gadot there?"

"Doctors were forcing their patients to get injected by liquidfied Chaos. If we bring Gadot there, having been injected by Chaos himself...they'd probably kill him out of fear. Afraid he might transform and infect people."

"How long until that happens?" Bartholomew asked.

"Usually right away. Gadot's been all feverish for hours now." Sazh threw open the door to the airship and fished for the radio. "Here." he handed the object to the Council leader.

"Rygdea?" Bartholomew spoke through, switching the radio on. "Rygdea you there?"

"_Bart_?" Rygdea spoke through. "_How did you get on the frequency_?"

"Hey, Rygdea," Sazh said, "actually, he's with us."

"..._come again_?"

Bartholomew quickly explained the situation to Rygdea.

"_So you're not coming back to Oerba any time soon_?" Rygdea asked.

"No." Bartholomew answered, "I need to get the L'Cie to Bodhum."

"_Bodhum_?" The Calvary Captain questioned. "_You sure about that_?"

**Lightning's POV**

It was getting late, and mostly everyone had retired to sleep. Snow had wanted to be alone, Sazh and Bartholomew were most likely still back at the airship, Maqui and Yuj were sleeping next to each other, and Lebreau was in the tent with Gadot.

Hope had just exited the tent. He sat by the fire next to me, his eyes having dark circles and he looked a little pale. I worried. "Hope, are you feeling alright?" I asked him.

"I'm okay." He said, yawning and stretching.

I watched him for a while and stretched an arm out, holding my cape to him. "Come here." I told him.

He blushed and smiled and curled up beside me, resting his head on my shoulder. He was really tired. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to bother you."

"Hope," I said, staring at the fire in front of me, "you know you never have to feel like you're bothering me. You're one of the few people that do."

Hope laughed. "Okay." he said. "I think the airships are gonna get done tonight."

"Great." I said, "I'm ready to get out of here."

"I'm trying not to complain about the camping trips. We're going to Bodhum, remember? I don't think we'll be staying at hotels or anything."

"True. Probably going to be hiding out in boats." I said.

"Really?" Hope asked.

I stared down at him, letting him know I was only joking I poked his forhead.

He yawned once more, nodding off. "I just have been using healing magic for hours on end."

"Don't do that." I warned him. "It may seem like magic is unlimited, but it can greatly tire you out. And what if we have another ambush."

"I know that Light." Hope grumbled, rubbing his eyes, "but Gadot..."

"Hope..." I stated and he sighed.

"Light...I...I can handle myself."

I looked at him surprise. "I thought we were partners?" I asked him.

I saw his lips twitch, as he fought back a smile. "We are..." he trailed off.

"Hope, I'm not talking down to you. I know you're getting stronger by the day." I informed him with a sigh, and a pinch to the bridge of my nose. "But it...concerns me when you exert all your energy like this. Don't overdo it or you'll hurt yourself. I...don't know..." I didn't really know what exactly I was trying to say.

Hope looked down into the fire. "What am I suppose to do then, Light?"

"Just...don't overdo it." I repeated. "You told me plenty of times to let people help me. Right?" I asked leaning over his shoulder and I saw a smiled. I bumped my shoulder against his and he laughed shyly.

"Okay." Hope laughed. "I'm sorry if I worried you. It's just..." He bit his lip, gazing back into the fire. "You're just such a strong person. And I just wished that I could be strong too. I want to help people. Make things better."

"You are a strong person. Stronger than any kid I know."

"Not good enough." Hope muttered, looking at me, his eyes holding all seriousness. "I want to be as strong as all of you. I want to fight alongside you. I want to be strong enough to protect you."

"Hope, what...what are you talking about? You do fight alongside us." I said, laughing. I didn't understand what he was trying to say.

"Nevermind." Hope began to pull away from me, my cape falling off his shoulder, "it's just with Gadot bedridden, Maqui and his mom, and-and..."

"Hope...it's okay if you're scared."

He stood up quick, fighting for words. "Light, I...I...-"

"**Ah!**" I heard a scream coming from the tent, and the both of us drew our weapons and entered the tent along with Snow.

"Lebreau!" Snow exclaimed.

Lebreau was being pinned down by Gadot. Snow grabbed his bestfriend from behind and tossed him outside of the tent, just as Bartholomew and Sazh arrived at the scene.

"Gadot!" Lebreau exclaimed about to go help him but Snow held her back pinning her to the ground. "Gadot!"

Gadot groaned and chaos began to overtake the large man. He screamed and he grew in size. "Oh, dear Etro..." Bartholomew whispered as Sazh trained a gun on the once to be man.

"Gadot..." Lebreau whispered.

He had completed his transformation as a Chaos Infusion.


	20. The Disciplinary Committee

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**AN: About Lightning's past, I hadn't read the novellas for XIII when I first established Lightning's past's Headcanon. So quick runthrough, in the novella it states that Lightning has a closer relationship with her mother and that her father died before her mother did from a sickness.**

**So I apologize, because I've already brought up her past (especially in my other fanfiction "Filling in Blanks") and it would be weird if I just changed it. Besides, it plays heavily in my sequel at some point.**

**Lightning's POV**

We all stood around and stared at what had become of Gadot. The Chaos had slowly spread through his body, instead of coursing through like the other transformations we've seen. That only proved that Gadot was fighting against the Chaos, battling to keep his blood clean from the corruption. But all he was able to do was slow down the process, because in the end...the Chaos won.

I aimed my gun at him and I heard Lebreau scream from behind me, "Lightning, stop! Don't do this!"

"We can't take any chances." I told her. "Gadot _is_ infused with Chaos. And if we don't put him down, he could put us and others in danger."

"But-"

"That's not Gadot!" I said clearly, glancing back at Lebreau, still being held back by Snow.

I heard a groan coming from Gadot and I kept my blade trained on his struggling form. He looked up...his eyes...different from the other Chaos Infusions. Maybe because I knew this one. It looked hurt and in pain.

He moved quickly and I shot...missing.

Instead of charging towards us he fled deeper into the Waterscape, growls emitting from his mouth. I hadn't seen that coming.

"See!" Lebreau said, managing to wriggle out of Snow's stronghold. "Even now, Gadot's fighting it."

I just stared at her. She was right. It seemed Gadot was trying to avoid anyone getting hurt. But that wasn't enough. He was still a Chaos Infusion. He can't just keep running and hiding. Death...would be merciful.

She ran off following after Gadot, not even bothering to bring her gun.

"Damn it!" I swore. "Snow, come on!" I demanded the larger man to follow me.

The two of us followed Lebreau into the Waterscape.

**General POV**

Gadot ran, fighting against the burning and swelling sensation throbbing in his blood veins. His head felt like it was full of led. He couldn't think, couldn't reason. Couldn't remember who he was or what he was doing.

He was seeing red, and everything was spinning. He can hear his own heartbeat beating heavily against his chest. Rage filled him and he struggled to control it.

"**Ga**_**dot**_," was what he heard. For some reason he knew that somebody was calling out to him. One part of his mind told him to silence the woman, while the other...Gadot's self concious, wanted to protect his childhood friend from himself.

He wrapped his arms around a tree and let out a battle cry. The roots from the tree peeled out of the ground with a loud creaking sound that could probably be heard all the way into the Forest Owls camp. Lebreau came running his way until she saw the falling tree and jumped back. "Gadot!" She hollered as Gadot kept running.

She hopped over the fallen tree just as Lightning and Snow caught up, astonished by the strength Gadot had, able to force a tree down to block the way. They jumped over as well, to help Lebreau out.

But Lebreau didn't need help. She needed to save her friend from himself. She knew that he was in there, somewhere still and is in pain. She needed to help him, that's what friends do.

Gadot galloped back to where the airship was, the Forest Owls crew noticing his prescence and hiding within the airship in fright. Luckily they had only just fixed it. Gadot charged towards them, angry that they are hiding from him like he was some sort of monster, and slammed his shoulder against the door, almost making the airship tip over.

"Gadot!" Lebreau trying again, her voice starting to give out from calling his name over again. "I have called your name seventeen times. Hold the hell up!" She barked, hoping if she spoke like she usually did it would bring out her childhood friend.

Gadot glanced back at Lebreau and curled within himself. Some people that were within the hospital have come out, realizing that there was still Chaos Infusions outside.

"It's okay!" Lebreau tried to reassure the panicking people, "he's gonna be okay."

They didn't believe her. Snow and Lightning finally arrived at the scene.

**Lightning's POV**

"Lebreau," Snow called out to the dark haired woman, "it's too late."

"No. It can't be." Lebreau argued. "Snow, Gadot's our friend. We've been friends all our lives. We can't just give up on him. Not now."

"You really think that you can make Gadot human again?" I asked.

"I know, it sounds like a cliche in a kids show." Lebreau said, "but...you can't deny it's still Gadot in there. He didn't attack us, he isn't turning against them."

I grabbed her arm pulling her back towards the camp, "Lebreau, if you keep this up you could get us killed." I told her, and I heard Gadot growling. "See, he's not any different from the others. I'm sorry about what happened to him, but it's better to save the rest of our group."

"Let go of me, Lightning!" Lebreau told me trying to shake me off.

I had to grab both her shoulders trying to shake some sense into her. I then sensed something coming our way, and Gadot leaped. Snow barreled past me and tackled Gadot back.

The Chaos Infusion fought againt Snow, who was barely sizing him up. He grabbed the back of Snow's trenchcoat, trying to yank him off. "Gadot, is this really what you want to do?" Snow asked him in a wavering tone.

Gadot stopped struggling, staring into Snow's eyes.

"You're better than this!" Snow forced Gadot's hand off his trenchcoat, tearing a patch off. "My bestfriend is still in there-" Gadot tried to force Snow off of his much larger frame and Snow groaned trying to keep him down. "I don't want to fight you! Sis, Lebreau! Help! He's too strong!"

Snow was tossed against the airship and Gadot began barreling towards me like a charging beast. "Amicus-ugh!" I was thrown back against a tree, my gunblade clattering beside where Lebreau stood. Gadot wrapped a hand around my throat. "Ugh, let go of me!" I got out and Gadot growled.

His eyes then widened and he threw me against Lebreau, the both of us skidding against the dirt. I coughed, trying to get some air into my lungs, and Lebreau stood up onto her knees as Gadot approached her.

Dawn was breaking. We've been up all night. "Stop!" Lebreau cried. "Gadot, please..."

Gadot stopped walking and Lebreau hesitantly held Gadot's hand, only making the disform human flinch. "Fight..." She whispered.

Gadot was about to attack again, but then he staggered back, grabbing his head. "Stop!" he groaned, his voice sounding different. "Stop! **Ah**!

"Lebreau! Get back!" Snow called out to the dark haired woman.

She raced towards where Snow was sitting against the airship, the door opening up as some of the Forest Owls crew stepped out. Everyone else returned to the hospital.

The rest of our group made their way to where we were, watching Gadot fighting against the Chaos.

Then something spectacular happened, the Chaos was fading off of his body, and he was actually shrinking back to his normal size. Gadot, now human again collapsed against the ground. We stared at this.

"How does something like this happen?" Sazh asked.

Lebreau crawled over to him, hand on his cheek. "Gadot?"

Gadot groaned in exhaustion and looked up at the dark haired woman, "Lebreau?'

"You're okay." She sighed, patting his head.

"Is he really?" Bartholomew asked, approaching Gadot. "All of this seems a little too...simple."

"I agree." I said, standing back up, "how do we know he won't transform again? The Chaos is still inside him."

"It is." Gadot said, sitting up. "I've...gotten control on it somehow."

"Control?" Watts asked.

"Like the Chaos Infusions yesterday." Hope pointed out. "They talked to us, remember? Said that they've taken control as well."

"So...you're better now?" Zone asked.

"I don't know," Gadot said, letting Lebreau help him to his feet. "Not...better..."

"What we need to do is get out of this hell." Sazh said. "We've been here for way too long."

"Our crew says the airship has been fixed, sir." Watts said. "We can finally get out of the Waterscape, sir."

"Where are you guys headed?" Zone asked.

"Bodhum." I answered.

"Bodhum," Sazh repeated, "after this we're just going deeper into Chaos."

"We have no choice." I said, "we can't find the enemy if we're at safe distance."

"I think I'll be fine." Gadot said. "Come on, let's go."

"We're coming with you." Zone said. "You might need our help."

"Yeah, that's why you hide in tents when danger arrives." Yuj muttered, "real helpful you guys."

"Gathering information is my specialty, sir." Watts chanted.

Zone then gripped his stomach and squatted down, "Ow!"

Lebreau rolled her eyes.

None of us got any sleep last night, so we had no other choice but to keep moving. Happy that we were no longer gonna be in these wilderness, I accepted the chance to escape.

"Hey," Sazh said, piloting the airship, "when we get there, is it okay if I make a stop?"

"We're gonna be in the heart of Chaos." I mentioned, "it's not exactly safe to make stops."

"But I need to see somebody. Make sure she's alright."

I blew my breath, my bangs flopping as I did so, "fine."

"I have some information that may benefit you sir," Watts spoke up. "An old man who is hiding out within Bodhum. He was a retired PSICOM officer."

"We can rely on him?" Bartholomew asked.

"His name is Vincent Valentine."

"Vincent Valentine?" Bartholomew said as if he remembered the name. "I thought he was killed in action over forty years ago."

"Sounds reliable alright." Hope said sarcastically.

"Ow!" Zone continued to whine, leaning heavily against Maqui.

Our team is slowly becoming just a merry band of misfits.

We finally arrived in Bodhum after three hours in the air. I was so close to throwing Zone and Watts out of the overcrowded airship. I think I was headed their way to do just that, until Sazh forced me back down threatening to "turn this airship back around".

I also kept a close eye on Gadot. He seemed to act like he was back to normal. But there was no denying the Chaos was still flowing through his bloodstream. We landed at the airship dock.

"This is what we're going to do." Bartholomew self appointed himself as team leader. "Gadot, Lebreau, Maqui, and I are going to try and get Chaos Knight uniforms."

"Why are-"

He cut me off with a "Sh!" and I now considered throwing him out of the hatch with Zone and Watts just for that alone. "If you go, everyone will sense your L'Cie powers. But with the armor it will be hidden. It shouldn't take long."

"We'll be right back." Lebreau said, sneaking out of the airship with the names listed off.

"I am so glad I won't be wearing those uniforms." Yuj sighed, his hands behind his head and kicking his feet up over Hope's lap. "They are Ug-ly."

"Where is Valentine?" I asked Watts.

"He is usually in the old GC HeadQuarters, sir." Watts informed me, pointing in the direction. Not that he needed to, I've worked for the Guardian Corps for six years.

"Where did you want to stop at, Sazh?" I asked the dark skinned pilot beside me.

For the first time, Sazh seemed hesitant to inform me, glancing behind him at the people occupying the back. "It's not far. It's just outside." Sazh said.

"You think it's safe for Sazh to go, since it's right there." Snow asked.

"I don't think you should risk it." Zone said.

"He's right." Hope added. "We've seen what Chaos is capable of. I'm not even comfortable right now."

We then heard the splitting sound of gunshots, and without thinking I drew my gunblade and exited the airship. Standing by the docks were Gadot and the others, as Chaos Knights fell down. "Dammit!" I swore, rushing over, glancing around for more knights.

But Lebreau didn't give me a chance to tell them off, as she and the others forced the armor pieces off of the knights. "What the hell do you think you guys are doing?" I whispered, looking around nervously.

"No time to explain." Lebreau said, shoving pieces into my arms. "Start putting them on over your clothes."

I quickly did as she said, as Snow and the other L'cie were forced into their armors. Once all pieces were in place, I was surprised that Chaos hadn't shown himself. Or that any other back up knights came running at the sound of gunshots. I flinched when I heard even more gunshots coming from town.

"What's going on?" Snow asked as Yuj helped him buckle up his armor.

"Nothing." Bartholomew answered, having just finished buckling his son up. "This sort of behavior it normal here."

"He's right." Hope chimed in. "Last time we were here it was a warzone. I just didn't expect it to still be one."

"Well, Chaos _is_ heavily influenced here." Sazh pointed out, having also seen Bodhum since Cocoon's Fall. "I'm gonna stop by soemwhere. You all go on ahead."

"Wait," I said, "I'll go with you." I volunteered.

"Soldiergirl, you don't need to do that. I'd rather go alone."

"I can't let you do that. Something could happen to you, and we'd have no way of knowing."

"She's right," Zone said, "best to have somebody by your side. We're gonna go ahead and seek out Vincent Valentine."

Sazh sighed, staring at me in contemplation. "Alright then."

"Do we need to wear the helmets?" Snow asked, sniffing the item then cringing, letting it fall onto the docks.

"The knights don't know what you look like. I don't think." Bartholomew figured. "I think you should worry more about your brands showing than your appearance. But just in case, I'd stay on your toes."

"You two know your way to the GC building." Hope stated, "we'll see you later then."

The rest of the group set off to the town. I noticed my house across the dock. Memories flooded through me. This _was_ my home. I didn't think it would impact me so much seeing it there. But I felt sadness and anger at the thought of some damn Chaos corrupted person occupying it.

Sazh patted my head, in a fatherly gesture.

"That was my house." I told him.

"You want to stop by. Maybe nobody's in there."

I shook my head.

"Come on, Soldiergirl. It can't hurt to take a peek."

I then found myself following Sazh to the front of my house. "Look," he pointed to a sign. "Open House."

I crossed my arms, the armor clanking against each other.

"Looks nice. You have good taste." Sazh complimented, looking up.

"My mom picked this house out before I was born." I said, trying to keep my face stoic.

"Oh, so you grew up in this house."

"Yeah."

"Well come on, welcome me inside." Sazh said with a smile.

"It's not my house anymore." I said.

"Nobody else has claimed it yet."

I sighed, climbing up the steps as Sazh took it the exterior, appreciating the scenery. "You got the best view, girl." He complimented. "Okay, show me in."

"It's probably locked."

"It said, 'Open House'." He opened the door and smirked back at me. "Don't get nervous." he held the door open for me and I entered. "I hate this armor," Sazh commented behind me, "it's too hot for it."

"Right." Sazh closed the door and we were shrouded in darkness. I remembered where the lights were. Serah used to leave them on if I came home late.

I was surprised the light bulbs still worked, and the living room lit up. "Wow..." Sazh said, walking around. "This is really nice."

"The furniture is still here." I said in surprise. All the couches, the radio, the television. Everything was still here. Sazh approached the radio and turned it on, a poppy song playing that brought me back to all the times I came home to Serah cooking and jamming to it.

"I take it this is Serah's CD." Sazh commented, picking up a CD. "Starseekers."

"Her favorite band." I informed him without even thinking. I entered the kitchen, the music can still be heard in there, and I switched the light on.

"Where are your rooms at?" Sazh asked.

"Upstairs. I'll show you." I never would have thought any other L'Cie besides Snow who I knew before the Purge were going to see my house. My actual home. It made me wonder how Hope would of reacted if he saw it too.

Then I saw the pictures in the halls. One was my family picture. I was about eleven years old in it, my hair cut short at necklength and combed nicely, little red berets clipping my bangs down. I was wearing a pink turtleneck dress, since it was wintertime.

Serah was about eight, her shoulder length pink curly hair in two pigtails, wearing a pink long sleeve dress. We were both grinning ear to ear, Serah sitting in my father's lap while I stood beside him. He had spiky blonde hair and was wearing a gray turtleneck, and he was smiling warmly.

Behind him was my mother, her long curly red hair in a low ponytail, draped over her left shoulder, and she wore a brown and yellow long sleeve dress. Brown lips painted with make up curled into an almost provocative smile, a hand over my father's shoulder.

Beside that picture was a picture taken after my father's death. I was sixteen, my hair finally growing out, and I was wearing a burnt yellow cropped turtleneck that deliberately showed my freshly pierced navel. Serah was standing beside me in a black halter top, her long hair let loose. We were both smiling, but I remembered the pain we were feeling after seeing our father's grave.

That reminded me...it's probably still at the graveyard. I considered going there before we left Bodhum, but decided against it.

"Hey," I heard Sazh laugh when he saw my family portrait. "Aw, aren't you cute. And look at Serah."

I walked the rest of the way up the stairs and opened the first room. "This is Serah's room."

Her walls were pink, having painted them long before she was even born. Her shade was lighter than my room's color. And her floor had a white carpet. Her bed was still freshly made, her white laced curtains billowed from the open window. Her white wooden dresser. And her posters were still hanging on the wall.

I noticed one thing different in her room. I hadn't been in her room for over a year. But there used to be another picture of Serah and I on her bedside table.

But instead was replaced by a picture of her and Snow in a heart shaped frame. Sazh looked around. "You know I expected her room to look like this."

"Hm." I hummed, not really paying attention to Sazh at the moment. I exited the room and let him see mine.

My room's walls were a dark pink, almost red. I remember asking my dad for a darker shade when I was thirteen. My room used to be a much lighter pink, not as light as Serah's was, but close enough, to seem more 'mature' I asked him for a much darker shade.

He didn't question it, he already knew that his daughter was growing up. My bed was made, and everything was surprisingly clean.

"You guys keep this house in tip top shape." Sazh commented. "Is that it?"

"...there's my parents room." I mentioned, for some reason my heart raced. "I haven't been in there since my dad died."

"We should go back then." Sazh said, realizing I was lost in thought.

"Could you...wait downstairs for me?" I asked.

He nodded, and exited the room. I heard him clank down the stairs. I exited shortly after and stood in front of my parents room. Six years ago, Serah and I kept this room shut. We didn't exactly know why we never went in. It just felt..wrong.

It was like my dad was hiding in there. And if I opened the door, it would force us to realize that he was really gone. But a lot of time has passed. I think it was fine.

I grabbed hold of the knob and turned, entering the vacant room.

Everything was exactly where my father left it. His bed was perfectly made, his drawers still had some of his clothes in there. I sighed.

How many times have I come in here to talk to him? There was also the study-

The study!

I raced downstairs and Sazh had stumbled his way into my father's sanctuary. I almost forgotten about that room. Unlike the bedroom, Serah and I have cleaned out this room so we could use it. But my father's stuff were still here, sometimes we just couldn't bring ourselves to get rid of them.

"Alot of books on Cocoon, and military manuals. And textbooks." Sazh listened off as he checked out the shelf. "I'm sorry, was I not allowed in here?" he asked.

"No, it's fine." I assured my friend. "Well, I'm ready to go."

"How do you feel, Soldiergirl?" Sazh asked me.

"Fine."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about."

Sazh shrugged, the shoulder part of the armor clanking, "Alright then. Just know I'm always an open ear. You need to talk about anything, come to me...or Hope, he'd listen to you. Or even Snow."

"I get it." I informed him quickly, "Come on, let's go to your stop."

"Your right." Sazh said, walking past me. "She lives in the town over. I know it sounds far, but it's a short walking distance."

"She?" I questioned as we exited my house.

"Felicia, my sister in law."

"Oh..." I trailed off.

"I haven't seen her since Cocoon's Fall. Want to see if she's alright."

We walked down the boardwalk, and I felt nostalgia take over. How many times have I walked this path and for how long?

We finally arrived at a small house outside of Bodhum into the next town that was almost connected. Sazh fidgeted, something the darkskinned man never did. He was not the nervous type.

Then I remembered, if she was alive, he would have to tell her about Dajh. "I'm startin' to have second thoughts, girl." Sazh confessed, as he began to back up.

"You can do it, Sazh." I assured him, "I'm right behind you."

"Heh, you got my back, huh?" He blew his breath and knocked on the door.

Shortly after, a young man about Serah's age with short dreads that stuck up answered the door. "Uncle Sazh?"

"Hey, Shawn." Sazh greeted with an uneasy smile. "Is your mother home?"

Clang!

"Opal! Now is not the time, I'm busy, girl." A woman in her late thirties, approached the door wearing a gray t-shirt and black shorts, her long shiny black hair in a high ponytail. "Sazh?"

"Uh, hey, Felicia."

"Get back in the house." The woman told the eighteen year old.

"Mom-"

"In. The. House." She said slowly, sounding angry.

The eighteen year old glanced between Sazh and I before closing the door behind him, as this woman, Felicia, exited the house barefoot. "Sazh. You're alive. Who's this?"

"Yes, I'm alive. And so are you. This is my friend, Lightning."

She gave me a dirty look and I rose an eyebrow at her blatantly rude attitude. "Why are you wearin' that armor? Do you work for him?"

"Oh, no." Sazh reassured her, "we just threw these on so we could get in."

"Hmph. Where's Dajh?" she asked.

"Gran Pulse." her eyes widened. "It's alright there, Felicia. He's safe."

"So why are you here, while your son is on a totally different and dangerous planet like Pulse."

"_Gran_ Pulse." I corrected, and she snapped her neck towards me, unamused.

"I had things I needed to do..." Sazh tried explaining to her.

"Are they more important than your son." She asked in a condescending tone.

"You're not..." he glanced at me and I narrowed my eyes. _Don't tell this woman we're L'Cie._ "You're...not going to understand."

"Of course." She said, blinking. "Who's taking care of Dajh."

"Felicia...about Dajh..." Sazh got straight to the point... "it's...it's hard to say."

"Spill it, Sazh. What about my nephew?"

"He's..." Sazh swallowed, trying to keep his composure, "he lost his vision, Felicia."

She leaned forward, like she didn't catch it, "What?"

"He...can't see-"

"You've got to be fucking kidding me? What the hell have you been doin', Katzroy?"

"Don't yell at him." I ordered, not being able to stand by and let this woman talk down to Sazh like this.

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice raising.

"Who are you?" I asked, and she got into my face while I kept my ground.

"I don't have to explain myself to you, whore. Just cause your sleepin' with my brother in law, he don't have to drop his son for you."

"First of all," I said, stepping back, "watch your tone. Second, keep your distance. Third, I am not sleeping with Sazh. We are just friends. And forth, he is not dropping Dajh. He has been a good father to him. What happened to Dajh was tragic-"

"Then, why he with you instead of his damn kid?"

"Cause I'm here to protect him!" Sazh blurted.

The woman scoffed. "How do you protect someone on a totally different planet. And sweetheart," she directed at me, "you should really get to know your friends before you try and defend them. He may be playin' the 'father of the year' card now, but he was never there for Dajh or his wife, my sister. He was always out gamblin' and drinkin' til he was drunk on his ass and broke. He got his self locked up after my sister was dead because he was so wasted and pathetic. Don't even get me started on the whole suicide episode."

I just stared at her.

"It was a mistake coming here." Sazh whispered, clearly embarassed that his sister in law just pointed out every flaw Sazh had in under thirty seconds. "I'm glad you're safe Felicia. As well as the kids. I hope things go better for you."

"I pray my nephew don't turn out like his worthless daddy. And you," she directed at me again, "can go to hell, you tramp."

Slam!

"She was never this awful." Sazh said, "she was pretty awful, always hated me. But she was there for Dajh after Deja died."

"Sazh..."

"I know, I know, I'm an awful person. Should have told you." He said as we began walking back into town. "I'm not proud of myself, you know. I was...a terrible person. I still think I am. I was never there for Dajh..."he laughed bitterly and I realized he was crying a bit, "look at where I am. My son can no longer see and I'm not even by his side to guide him."

"Sazh...I'm sorry." I said, meaning it. "You had a hard lot. But the past does not matter now. What matters is what you do now. You're here to get rid of Chaos, so he can't hurt your son no more. He's the one that caused all this to happen. Don't blame yourself."

"..." Sazh just stared at me and then laughed, "I didn't expect to hear that come out of your mouth, Soldiergirl."

I sighed, realizing I was going to have to dive into my past and share it with Sazh. I never talked about my past with anyone. I'm sure Serah has told people, but I never did. "My mom, never cared about us." I said. "She didn't work, but she was barely home. She was always out with her friends while my dad worked and it was mostly him raising us. My mom was never a big part of my life."

"When I was twelve," I continued, "I...never knew exactly what the argument was about...but my mom got into this huge fight with my dad. She was hitting him, calling him all sorts of stuff. Serah was crying. And then...she left...and never came home."

"You never heard from her again?" Sazh asked.

I shook my head. "Even after my dad died when I was fifteen, Serah tried to seek her out for help...but we never found her. Sazh, you may not have been there for Dajh, but you're here now."

"Have you ever thought of seeking her out, now?" Sazh asked me.

I shook my head once more. "No. I don't want to find her. She could be dead for all I care."

"She's still your mother, Soldergirl."

"I don't care. She caused alot of pain. She was selfish. There was no reason for her to be, she had everything. In fact, I hope I never see her again." I ranted, anger bubbling up inside me as I remembered her.

Sazh remained silent for a moment. "Let's go to the GC HeadQuarters. Snow and the others are probably waiting for us."

As soon as we got back to the town of Bodhum's entrance, a man in the same Chaos armor we were wearing stopped us. "Do your loyalties lie with Chaos?" he asked us.

"Yes." Sazh said quickly and I nodded, not too sure on what to do.

"Why have I never seen you here before?" he asked, starting to raise his gun. I was about to draw my gunblade when Sazh placed his hand over mine, stopping me.

"We were on duty for Chaos." Sazh explained like it was a normal thing.

The man still didn't look convince, until a fight broke out just inside. Swords were drawn, and one male citizen stabbed another through the heart. A woman screamed and a little boy cried in terror. While the Chaos knight who was previously interogating us was busy we snuck in.

"Boy, that was close." Sazh commented.

"No kidding. I hope there isn't anymore guards at the HeadQuarters."

"I wonder if the others got in?" Sazh asked.

When we arrived in the Guardian Corps HeadQuarters, there was another knight, a woman this time who approached us. "You're late." She stated and led us to the familiar conference room.

Inside I saw Snow and Hope, sitting down like they belonged with the team. Snow seemed to have been staring off into space, not interested in what they were talking about, while Hope appeared to be hanging on every word.

We took our places, and they pretended to not know us. "Chaos has a plan in store for us all." One Chaos loyal man informed, "We are almost done here, we just need to make these people believe in his cause."

"I sense some of these people do not favor Chaos as their ruler. What do you propose we do to those people, eject them to Pulse?"

"Another Purge..." the man said, seeming to consider it. "Or we could just kill them. They seem to find a way to worm themselves back into Cocoon."

"The disciplinary committee is on the job."

"Good. Dismissed."

All the Chaos Knights stood up from their seats, and we did the same, following Snow and Hope out of the room. We entered one of the much bigger offices, and that was where the other guys were. Bartholomew was conversing with an intimidating man with pale skin, long black tangled hair, and red eyes. He wore the same armor.

I figured he was Vincent...only he didn't appear to be a man in his seventies. If anything he looked like a man in his forties. Maqui was facinated by some of the objects in the room and Lebreau was looking with him. Gadot was sitting off to the side, while Yuj remained silent. Zone and Watts were eating.

I realized this place was pretty safe, since Vincent seemed to be mostly in charge. He looked in my direction. "Lightning Farron and Sazh Katzroy." he assumed.

"Yes." I confirmed, sitting where Hope was.

"You are brave to venture out here in a heavily populated Chaos loyalty to seek me out." He said, standing up from his seat.

"We didn't have much of a choice." Snow said. "We need to get rid of this Chaos once and for all."

"He's not here." He said shaking his head.

"What?"

"But-"

"This may be his town now," Vincent continued, "but we have not seen him. Nobody knows where he is."

"So we came all this way for nothing?" Hope asked.

"Not for nothing." Vincent reassured us. "There is a man here, the head of the disciplinary committee, Seifer Almasy. He is loyal to Chaos...well, I use the term 'loyal' loosely. He is playing for him, but he'd rather have people working for himself than Chaos."

"That doesn't make any sense." Lebreau commented.

"Whatever the case," Vincent continued, "you will need his help to get to certain places not authorized to just anyone."

"Can we really trust him?" Yuj asked. "No offense, but I don't trust a seventy year old who looks like he's been seeking out the fountain of youth or something."

"My condition does not play a part in your endeavor." He strode towards the door, "I shall summon one of the Disciplinary Committee members, he will help you gain Almasy's attention."

"What are you thinkin', Sis?" Snow asked me.

"I'm staying on my toes." I said. "We are in a Chaos populated town, wearing Chaos armor, seeking out Chaos loyalties. Whatever the trial is, cannot be easy."

"But you are L'Cie-" Zone tried to say and Hope shushed him making Zone cover his mouth.

"Watch your mouth, boy." Sazh warned him.

"Sorry, it slipped out." Zone apologized.

"Why did you guys even come?" Maqui asked.

"Gathering information is my-"

"Yes, your specialty, we know." Barthololmew said. "I'm talking about your leader. What do you do?"

"I...I...lead...Ow!" He clenched over his stomach.

The door swung back open and a large man a little bigger than Gadot, but not as big as Snow, with dark skin and cropped short black hair barreled into the room, almost knocking everything over like he was shoved in. "What's up?"

"Rai," Vincent said, "I need you to take these Chaos Knights, and put them up in a battle trial for their admission into the Disciplinary Committee."

What?

"Yes sir." He then shoved his way back out of the room.

I stood up along with the L'Cie and followed him out of the room. "Are they just gonna hang out here?" Snow asked.

"I might." Bartholomew said.

"Vincent said we're safe from the knights, since we look like civilians, so we might hang out by the beach. See what became of Lebreau's bar and the base." Maqui informed us.

We nodded, following after Rai. "I'm Rai, ya know?" He said with a goofy smile.

"Yeah, we caught that." Sazh commented.

"I'm Snow Villiers." Snow introduced himself, being nice. "The short one is Hope."

I noticed Hope narrow his eyes at Snow's introduction.

"I'm Sazh Katzroy." Sazh introduced, "nice to meet you."

Everyone stared at me in expectation. "And I'm Lightning."

"So, what exactly are we going to do in the battle trial?" Hope asked curiously as we walked down the town, heading toward the blitzball arena.

"The Boss only recruits people who are capable to fight, ya know?" Rai explained, "most of our jobs contains us breaking up fights, ya know?"

"Uh, okay, I think I get it." I said.

"Fuu!" he exclaimed, running ahead.

A woman with pale skin, and around my height with short white hair and an eye patch that covered her left eye was waiting patiently outside of the arena. "What?" She asked.

"Vincent sent me some recruits, ya know? They want to work for Seifer, ya know?"

"Seriously?" She asked.

"Yeah," Snow spoke up. "We want to be part of the Discipline c-"

"Disciplinary-" Hope corrected.

"Disciplinary Committee." Snow finished.

Fuu's good eye rose in suspicoun, then she sighed. "Follow."

"I did a pretty good job, huh Fuu, ya know?" Rai asked, galloping next to her.

"Hmph." she replied.

"Come on, can you say more than one word to me at least?"

"No." She said, punching the back of his head, since that was the only thing not covered.

"Ow!" He whined, covering his head, "Fuu! That hurt, ya know!"

"Wait." She said and called up probably this Almasy person on her phone. "Recruits." She answered.

"Does she not talk much?" Snow asked.

"She only says, one word at a time." Rai told us. "I think that speech pattern is kind of weird, ya know. It's get old, ya know? You know what I'm saying, ya know?"

"Wow." Was all I said, crossing my arms in the armor. Hope laughed next to me.

Fuu then scurried towards us, "Five."

We stared at her. "Five...minutes?" Hope asked.

"Yes." She answered, standing off to the side.

"You still didn't explain what happens in the battle trials." Hope pointed out.

"The boss tests your strength, ya know?" Rai explained, "he unleashes a monster for you to fight, and it gets harder until Seifer is satisfied, ya know?"

"What kind of beasts do we fight?" Snow asked.

"Usually cieth." Rai said, and we all stared at him in surprise.

"You keep the cieth?" Sazh asked.

"The Boss captures them, and keeps them as his pets. They're useful for the trials and punishment."

"What kind of man is Seifer Almasy?" I asked. It was then the name began to sound familiar. "Is he the GC soldier that got sent to prison for disobeying orders and bombings..."

"Sanctum influenced schools."

"Schools?" Hope asked.

"Mostly highschoolers. Maybe a middle school here and there."

"Ready?" Fuu asked. She opened the door to the arena. It was bigger without the giant watersphere in the center, and sitting in the guest of honor seat was a man in the same Chaos armor, his hair was gold and slicked back and he had a scar across his face.

He sneered when he saw the bunch. "These are the recruits?" he asked.

"Introduce." Fuu commanded.

"Lightning Farron. I used to be a GC soldier before Cocoon's fall." I said, staring straight up at him.

He leered down at me. "And what is your weapon?"

"Gunblade."

"You too?" Seifer said. "I know you..."

My heart stopped when he said that. Did he know that I was a L'Cie? But instead of interrogating me he moved on to Snow.

"I'm Snow Villiers. Rebel leader of NORA."

"You were against the Sanctum." Seifer stated, seeming pleased, since he was against them as well. "What's with the old man and the kid? Don't tell me they want to be part of the Committee. I need fighters!"

"I am a fighter." Sazh said. "I used to be a GC soldier. Retired just recently."

"How old are you?" Seifer asked, his eyes narrowed in harsh judgement.

"Forty." He answered.

Seifer laughed. "You really expect me to let an old geezer in the Committee?"

"I ain't a geezer. I'm like a little over ten years older than you, son. And I'm a sharpshooter."

Seifer rolled his eyes. "Fine, the geezer can participate. But this kid is some sort of joke. How old are you like twelve? I don't need a runt that is about to hit puberty in my comittee."

"I'm fourteen." Hope said, his eyes holding an annoyance.

"Wonderful." Seifer sighed sarcastically. "No."

"Come on, I can fight!" Hope argued.

" '_I can fight_' " Seifer mimicked in a ridiculously high voice. "The answer is still no."

"Almasy." I spoke up on Hope's behalf. "We are not getting recruited yet. This is our chance to show you what we can do. Hope should be able to participate."

Seifer scoffed. "What are you his mother?" He asked. "Fine, fine, let's just see some action. Rai!"

Rai huffed his way towards the doors where they usually let the fans come in, and once it was opened we could hear the screeching sound of a giant cieth. We drew our weapons. "Wait, how are we supposed to take something like that on without magic?" Snow whispered.

For the upteenth time, I wanted to punch myself in the face for my forgetfullness. We were going to have to battle this cieth using only our physical strength. Something Hope and even Sazh lacks. And Seifer was watching our every move.

"Don't worry, I got you." Snow assured me and charged towards the Wladislaus.

I wanted to yell at him, but for once, Snow seemed to have a plan in mind. "Come here." Snow provoked leading the giant cieth towards him.

Sazh circled around the cieth and began shooting his guns at it, aiming for the opened eye in it's chest. The cieth cried. I ran ahead, drawing my sword and jumped up, stabbing my blade into the eye.

The creature fell. "Time!" Fuu called out.

"She tryin' to say Time out." Sazh laughed with Snow.

Our victory was short lived when I saw two Tiamat Eliminatros fly in. Snow and Sazh worked together on the first one while I took on the second one. The creature attempted to sweep me up, but I grabbed it's hand and let it throw me up so I was on it's back. I cut the back of the wing so it was flying sideways.

I saw Hope swallow nervously, holding his boomerblade in blade mode and he charged towards it, aiming for it's eye. It cried in pain as it died. "Nice work, Hope." I complimented the nervous teenager and he smiled, proud of himself.

Seifer pretended to yawn hugely, "yeah, you're alright." He shrugged.

"So are we in?" Snow asked.

He rose an eyebrow, "we just got started. Any idiot can swing a sword and take down a cieth. Heh, okay, maybe not everyone can. But the real test is what you do against each other."

We paused. "Come again?" Sazh asked.

"You want us to fight each other?" Snow added.

"This is part of your trial?" I said.

"Not originally, no." Seifer said. "But since you guys seemed all 'buddy buddy', I thought it'd make this more interesting. The whole 'let's work together' schmeal. That's boring."

"What determines who gets in?" Hope asked.

"Well, twinkle toes," Seifer sneered at the silver haired teen. "Only one of you are going to get accepted in."

"What?" I exclaimed. "This isn't what-"

"This isn't what you signed up for?" Seifer asked. "What did you expect to be part of a big happy family. You're a soldier. You shoulda known only one of you is gettin' out alive. Get started."

"Hold on," Sazh whispered, "only one of us needs to get in. The rest of us can go back to Valentine."

"I have an idea." I said, walking forward, Seifer rose an eyebrow at me. "Let two of us in." I requested.

"Two?" Seifer questioned. "you're...negotiating? What exactly do you have to offer?"

"You really think we'd join for our benefit." I tried to talk my way out. Surprisingly, I wasn't very good with words, but I knew exactly what needs to be told. "You need more members. Let Sazh and Hope join your cause."

"I would of considered it if you let up decent fighters like yourself and the guy on steroids." Seifer said. "I was not impressed by them. Well, maybe the geezer's bullseye was something I need, but I don't know why you want the kid in here so bad. You think I can help hide him or something. You say I need help, when I think you are comin' to me."

I bit my lip, this man was seeing through me. "One mission. Take them on one mission. If it all goes well, then you have to let us know where Chaos is."

"Why do you want to know Chaos's location. Are you loyal? Or are you enemies?"

"Enemies." I answered. "I know you aren't completely loyal to Chaos. You are your own man, you're in this for yourself."

"You've got me interested, Farron." He said. "How about we continue this conversation back at my place."

Fuu led us to Seifer's small apartment that was on the beach. "This isn't really our spot." Seifer informed us. "Our original secret base was taken from us by the Primarch."

"The Primarch influences here?" I asked.

"No." Fuu answered.

"But they worm they way in, ya know?" Rai explained.

"We are planning on infiltrating the base on the other side of town."

"That doesn't sound like a hard job." I said.

"It isn't. That's why the geezer and the chicken wuss are comin' with me. Or I might just bring the geezer and leave your kid here."

"And what do you want us to do?" Snow asked.

"You two are going to set off into the ocean. We own a fishing boat."

"We're not fishing are we?" I asked, and Seifer and his possee laughed at my reaction.

"You're funny." He chuckled, "no. You will not be fishing. There's an island out there. If you know your geography and got a compass on you it won't be hard for you to locate. We see alot of Chaos going into that direction. That's probably where he's hidin' out."

"Right." I replied. I turned to Snow, "you think we should get your gang and the Forest Owls."

"You're working with the Forest Owls?" Seifer asked seeming surprised.

"You know them?" Hope asked.

"Yeah. I used to date their leader, Rinoa, when I was still in highschool. She here?"

"...actually," Sazh said, "she was killed over two weeks ago."

"Ah." Seifer said, seeming actually surprised, "sorry to hear that. She was a fesity one. I like feisty. But I don't know, she saw _something_ in Leonhart. You know him?"

"Yeah." Snow replied.

"Hmph." Seifer looked like he wanted to say more, but instead shook his head. "Rai, give them the information to our boat. You two," he pointed to Sazh and Hope.

"It's Katzroy," Sazh informed him, "Sazh Katzroy. And this is Hope Estheim."

"Alright, Katzroy, and the runt, Estheim, you're comin' with me, Fuu, and Rai. Farron and Villiers, y'all are on your own. Don't get killed."

The group followed by Sazh exited the apartment. Hope glanced back at me almost hesitantly before following after the blonde man. Snow glanced down at me, "let's rally up some of the gang and find that boat."

**Hope's POV**

**Bodhum**

I tried to stay as close to Sazh as possible. Right now I was feeling uneasy working with complete strangers who may or may not be loyal to our enemy. And the blonde leader, Seifer, has insulted me more than once since I met him, and I expected him to continue to talk down to me like I was a child.

Sazh, always the peacemaker, patted my back, reassuring me that this man, Seifer was just a jerk who just spats whatever he wants.

"It's a secret base, right?" Sazh restated, "so where is it?" he asked.

"It's a secret, ya know." Rai responded.

"Then what the hell is the point of us being here, if you're going to remain tightlip about your location?" Sazh asked in exasperation. Neighter Seifer nor Fuu gave any more information on the whereabouts of their secret base, and Rai continued to straggle off with a noticable questioning look on his face that seemed almost permaneant. He looked confused since he stumbled into the Valentine's office.

"We're gonna need supplies." Seifer announced once we found ourselves at a marketplace. Fuu was about to hand a supply bag to Seifer but he waved her off. "No, give the bag to the runt in the back. Make him be useful to us."

Fuu tossed the empty supply bag and I caught it before it could hit me in the face. Seifer approached me, handing me some gil. "You do know what supplies you have to buy, right? Potions, remedies."

I nodded silently, feeling intimidated as the tall man towered over me, his expression showing how short his patience was with anyone.

"Don't get distracted by a candy shop or a toy store or somethin'. Though, if you get curious and find yourself checking out a 'PlayMoogle' shelf..." he and Rai laughed knowingly.

I couldn't even be offended by that because I had no idea what they were talking about. I headed into the marketplace in search of an item shop.

It didn't take me long to find one, it was one of the first stores that were nearby. I entered the shop, a slight jingle sound announcing my entrance. I was surprised that the shop was empty, there wasn't even anyone behind the counter. I set the bag on top, peering around for a sign of a cashier or some sort of employee.

"Hello?" I called out, "You have a customer." I said.

I looked around the small shop, and it was heavily influenced by Chaos. Good thing I was wearing the armor, even if it was a bit big on me, almost hanging off my body. Nobody had figured out we were L'Cie yet.

"Yes, can I help you?" A old woman's voice crackled behind me. I turned around and standing behind the counter was...the old woman for the Waterscape.

She wasn't wearing her rags anymore. Instead her hair was tucked into a bun, and she wore a face full of make up. She also wore a purple dress, that hung loosely off her body. She didn't seem to recognize me. "Aren't you the woman who lived in a shack in Sunleth Waterscape?" I asked.

She didn't answer me. "How can I help you, young man?" she asked again.

I didn't know if it was because she threw in 'young man' instead of 'little boy', but I didn't bother on the Waterscape thing and asked her, "could I get ten potions, three phoenix downs, and...seven remedies. Actually, make that five remedies and four phoenix downs."

She turned around and took down the items off the shelf. "Off on a trip?" She asked me, trying to make conversation.

"You could say that." I replied.

"Aren't you a bit young to be goin' off alone. Uness you are going with a group. You are one of Chaos's Knights?"

The old woman in the Waterscape knew we were L'Cie. This made my heart stutter a bit. Was she going to tell that she saw me?

"I-I'm-" I found myself stuttering, a nervous habit, "I'm helping the disciplinary committee." I said.

She placed all the items I ordered onto the counter and rung them up. "Interesting." She said, and I barely caught the sarcasm in her word.

She knew. I could hear my heart beat in my ears, and I prayed she didn't hear this as well. "That will be five thousand gil."

I counted the money that Seifer gave me, and realized he given me _way_ too much. Almost double the amount I needed. I gave her the amount she told me and pocketed the rest, reminding myself to give Seifer back his money.

I silently began to place the items in the bag, feeling the old woman's eyes watching my every move. My heart continued to race. When I reached for the last item she grabbed my hand and I let out a terrified gasp.

Her eyes were serious and dark. "You are treading in dangerous waters." She told me in an amused tone. "You are eighter a very brave fellow, or a callow and foolish child."

"Who are you?" I asked, wanting to know why this old woman was keeping tabs on us L'Cie.

"Some folk call me Flemeth. I suppose that will do." She said.

"Flemeth?" I repeated her name, it sounding weird on my tongue.

"I suggest you get a move on. The longer you dawdle in one town, the faster the Chaos travels."

"Do you know where Chaos is?" I asked her.

She didn't answer me, instead entered the back of the room. I waited a few moments, expecting her to have gone to get something. But after a while I realized she disappeared. What was this woman was was what I should have asked her.

Flemeth.

**General POV**

**Oerba Village**

"Is my brother not back yet?" Vaan asked Terra who was reading a book quietly to herself in the living room on the couch.

"No. He's on another date with Vera." She told the younger brother, not even bother to hide the amused smirk from her lips. Even though Vera greatly bothers her along with mostly everyone in the village, she found the girl's crush on Reks amusing for both her and him.

Reks was such an idiot, Terra knew. Instead of just saying that he didn't like her like that, he would easily get swept away by a flip of her hair, a flirtacious smile, and crossing her legs so her skirt would ride up her thigh just so to drive the older brother wild with lust.

Then he'd have to deal with Vera's complaints and clinginess the very next day, only to forget by more steamy hot sex.

"Again?" Vaan asked, curling up beside Terra on the couch, and the older woman scooted over to give Vaan more room. "What does a girl like Vera see in a guy like Reks?" he asked.

Terra closed her book and stretched her legs out til they were in Vaan's lap, "what do guys see in Vera?" She asked him curiosuly.

"Well, she is kind of hot." Vaan commented absent mindedly, and Terra kicked his stomach playfully. He laughed, "I wouldn't want to date her though. Her voice is just a huge turn off."

"So if she had a beautiful voice you'd like her?" Terra asked.

"Well, she needs a major personality transplant for me to even be remotely interested in her." Vaan admitted and the older woman laughed at his response. "She reminds me too much of other women I knew back in Bodhum. And to think, I used to want girls like her. Now I look at her and think 'what guy in their right hand mind will fall for that trap?' "

"They're not using their minds from their brains." Terra mumbled and Vaan chuckled, massaging Terra's barefeet. "So Reks used to snatch up all the girls you had your eye on?"

"Yeah," Vaan replied, "it used to really bug me. It's like he knew that I was interested in a girl, and of course he's the handsomer brother."

"Handsomer?" Terra questioned with a raised eyebrow and Vaan blew his breath almost in embarressment.

"You know what I mean." Vaan continued.

"Not all girls." Terra reminded him.

Vaan glanced down at Terra questionably and she smiled. She sat up, tucking her legs underneath and leaned in and pressed her lips against Vaan's.

He froze in surprise, having not expected Terra to do that. Her lips slowly moved against his and he began to nibble on her bottom lip, making her sigh.

The door then burst open and Reks barged in. When he saw Vaan and Terra kissing he screamed. "Ah!" The two pulled apart in surprise, "what is this?"

"Uh..." Vaan tried to think of an explanation, but he was so blown away by the kiss he didn't know what to say.

"Terra," Reks, pinched the bridge of his nose and placed his other hand on his hip, "I'm going to assume this isn't what it looks like."

"What do you think it looks like?" Terra asked, not seeming at all fazed by Reks's reaction.

"It looks like my brother is smooching on you like there's no tommorrow that's what it looks like."

"Then it's not what it looks like." Terra responded.

Reks sighed in relief, "Oh, good, you scared me for a moment. So what happened?"

"I kissed him."

"That's even worse!"

"_**Reksy**_?" Vera's voice could be heard inside the house, and the older brother dove for his room, his interogation with Terra forgotten.

Meanwhile, outside, Tidus decided to teach the kids how to play blitzball.

"Now how do we build a giant watersphere?" Amodar asked when Tidus requested this at the Village Proper. Laguna was onboard for the idea while Rygdea remained more hesitant, but didn't completely reject the idea.

Morrigan laughed in his face like he told the funniest joke. "Do you have a giant sphere on you, man? Are you going to fill it up with a hose?"

"Then how am I gonna teach these kids to play blitzball?" Tidus asked.

"You can't do it on foot?" Rygdea asked. "Instead of swimmin' have them run. I ran all the time when I was their age. There were alot of games on foot."

"How about you teach them how to use a gun?" Amodar asked.

"What? They're in elementary school!" Tidus exclaimed when Amodar suggested that.

"How about you tell them a story." Laguna suggested.

"That's funny." Tidus coughed, "but how about something active. Something to get them in touch with nature."

"How about you give each of the children a stick and have them whack each other with it?" Morrigan added with a deadpan expression.

"That _wasn't_ funny." the beach blonde muttered with a frown.

"Sure it is," Morrigan leaned back in her chair, rubbing her potruding stomach, "you know what would be funnier, if you let the children whack you."

"Okay, Morrigan," Amodar laughed, "let's keep the snark down a notch."

"So what can I do?" Tidus asked, sounding desperate.

"I'm sure you'll think of somethin'." Laguna assured him.

The beach blonde sighed dejectedly and trudged to Yuna's clinic to see if she needed him.

**Lightning's POV**

**Bodhum**

Snow and I found Team NORA at Lebreau's old bar, now belonging to somebody else. Lebreau sat there sulking, her bottom lip jutted out in a exaggerated pout while Yuj tried to feed her a french fry, smearing the ketchup purposely on her cheek so she'd react.

She smiled, wiping the ketchup and licking it off her fingers. Maqui was the one who noticed our approach. "Hey, Snow, Lightning."

"Where's the others?" Gadot asked.

"With the Disciplinary Committee still." Snow informed them, swiping a fry from Yuj's plate. Gadot generously offered me his plate of fries and I accepted it, remembering I didn't eat at all today.

"We have a job to do." I said, wanting to get right into business. "Who gets sea sick easily?" I asked.

"I do." Lebreau admitted. "And I'm already been feeling a little woozy. Maybe it was from the lack of sleep."

"We all haven't slept." Yuj groaned, throwing his head back. "But I'll go. Maqui?"

"Hm...I'm still kind of..." Maqui trailed off not wanting to go any further with his explanation. He didn't need to, I figured he probably needed more time to get his bearings together, he had a tramatic experience with his mother the night before. And we spent our precious sleeptime chasing after a Chaos Infused Gadot that may or may not reawaken.

What a mess.

"I think I'm good to go." Gadot volunteered, "Maqui, Lebreau, y'all get some rest."

"You want us to tell Bartholomew the verdict?" Maqui offered as he slid out of the booth they were sitting in.

"Yes please," Snow said. "Let Zone and Watts know, as well. Since 'gathering information is my specialty, sir'." Snow mimicked Watts, making us all laugh a bit.

"So where are we goin'?" Yuj asked, sliding out of the booth as well.

"To an island." I informed him as I watched Gadot pay for their meal. "Chaos may be there."

"You think so?" Snow asked.

"No." I replied, "but something _is_ up over there. I can feel it. We gotta check it out."

"And Sazh and Hope are gonna help the Disciplinary Committee infiltrate their secret base because..."

"So we won't owe him later." I explained quickly as we exited the restaraunt.

**Hope's POV**

I couldn't stop thinking of my encounter with Flemeth as I exited the marketplace in search of Seifer and his gang. Who was she? And why was she following us? I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I stopped and realized that Seifer and his gang, including Sazh were not waiting outside the markerplace.

I had no idea where they were? Did they leave me with their bag and their money? Sazh wouldn't have allowed something like that to happen. My heart sank, I the thought of getting left behind again. I asked around feeling like a lost puppy. And I was given strange looks since I appeared to be a child in a Chaos Knight armor.

"Have you seen a tall knight with golden blonde hair and a scar across his face?" I kept asking. "Two dark skinned men are with him along with a white haired woman with an eyepatch."

Finally somebody pointed me in the right direction, it was toward one of the houses, and standing outside was a jittery Sazh. I raced toward him, carefuly to make sure the items didn't break inside the bag. "Sazh, what's going on?"

"Hope," Sazh mumbled, looking puzzled, "I think we are in the wrong line of work here."

"Well, duh." I pointed out, "of course we are. They are Chaos's punishers."

The house door swung open and Seifer exited the house nochalantly with his possee. "Look who's back. It's the runt with our supplies. Hand it over."

"What's going on?" I asked as Rai snatched the bag from me roughly. "What were you guys doing in there? Who's house is this?"

Seifer hissed, taking out a cigarette. "You ask _alot_ of questions. So I'm only going to say this once." He took a puff and blew the smoke into my face making me cough and wave it away. He sneered. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up."

I furrowed my eyebrows at his vulgarity and he puffed another cigarrette, this time I took two steps back. "What's your problem?" I asked.

Seifer dropped his cigarette and I gulped, getting ready for a beating. Rai and Fuu stared at me like I committed a sin and Sazh got inbetween us. "hey, hey, he's just a kid. Kids say things, you know what I mean, Rai?"

"Yeah." Rai chimed in, "H-he's just a kid, boss, ya know."

"Childish." Fuu added.

Seifer quickled grabbed the back of my neck that was visible despite the armor and whispered menacingly, "You are fucking with the wrong bastard. Let's go." He pulled away from me and made his way down the street, forcing us to follow him.

I prayed that Sazh and I make it out of this missions in one piece.


	21. And the Chaos Swallowed Us

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warnings: Violence & Blood and Implied sex jokes.**

**General POV**

**Bodhum**

"My son is with the Disciplinary Committee?" Bartholomew asked in surprised.

"He's the little one?" Vincent asked. "I didn't think Almasy would accept him and not your leaders."

"Sazh is with him." Lebreau added. "And the committee is in town trying to infiltrate some sort of secret base."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Zone said, mouth full of food.

"Lightning and Snow along with Gadot and Yuj are out at sea looking for an island." Maqui told him, "the Committee said that Chaos _may_ be there."

"I don't know about this, Mr. Valentine." Bartholomew mumbled, pushing his glasses above his eyebrows and pinching his nose with his eyes closed.

Maqui promptly yawned heavily and Lebreau patted his spikes. "Sir," Lebreau began, "we're kind of tired, we hadn't gotten any sleep last night. Is there anywhere we could get some rest?" she asked.

"I can give you money to stay at a hotel on the beach." Vincent circled around his desk and pulled out a drawer where alot of gil sat. He picked up just enough for Lebreau and Maqui to share a room. "I hope you don't mind."

"That's fine." Lebreau assured him, accepting the gil and putting it in her pocket. "Come on, Maqui, let's go to bed."

"Alright then."

**Hope's POV**

Sazh and I followed the Disciplinary Committee all the way to the otherside of town. I was ordered to not speak unless spoken to and to stay behind the committee, especially their leader at all times. Of course, I disgreed to these stupid terms, but Sazh had warned me that if we didn't comply we could blow our cover.

I then thought about how Light and Snow were doing at sea. They've grown up in Bodhum, so maybe they have used a boat at least once or twice in their life. It's not like I would have been any more useful if I traded places with one of them, since I've never been on a boat before. Knowing me I'd probably get seasick.

Fuu placed a hand on the right side of her, tracing the doors until she came across one in particular. It looked like another house. Sazh still never told me what happened in the last one, probably thought it was for the better. "This." Fuu barked her single word, stepping back and putting her hands behind her back.

"Rai," Seifer said, "break the door down."

"I can do that, ya know." Rai reminded everyone taking a step back. "Aaah!" He charged towards the door and shouldered it, making a ringing sound.

A ringing sound?

"Idiot." Fuu muttered then kicked the rest of the door down with her foot.

It was dark and empty inside. Suspicous. "Katzroy, you go in first." Seifer ordered the older man.

Sazh didn't complain this time and stepped forward. When I made an attempt to follow him, Seifer cut me off in such a harsh and unsubtle way to remind me of my orders. Fuu followed after him with a 'hmph'.

"You can go ahead, ya know." Rai offered. He was the only Disciplinary Committee member that was nice to me.

"Thanks." I whispered, ducking in. I almost caught myself before I iginited some L'Cie magic as a force of habit. Now I had to trek blindly in the dark. I kept a hand on the hilt of my boomerblade in case we run into danger. It was dead silent, and I was sure everyone could hear my heavy breathing and heart beating.

I then bumped into the back of Fuu and I was sure I heard her growl. I gulped, hoping she wouldn't try something now.

"There's people here," Sazh whispered. "Should I get the jump on them?"

"Attack!" Seifer announced and his group raced forward.

"So much for the element of surprise." Sazh muttered.

I was a little peeved we didn't get a preemptive strike, but when I started to hear gunshots and blades swinging, I drew my boomerblade and blocked a gunshot that was hurtling my way. My heart jumped and I could of screamed at the rather small sized base.

Well the base wasn't small, it was big enough. But still, I didn't think it was the best place to fight against assassins. One assassin swung his sword at me and I blocked it, trying not to show how much more stronger they were against me.

I had to avoid using any magic. I kicked the man in the groin and he crumpled within himself. _Should I kill him_? That's what went through my mind when I realized I had the oppurtunity. That was when I saw him reaching for a knife hidden in his armor and I quickly worked my blade into his neck, not quite beheading him, but hitting a major nerve that killed him quickly.

I pulled away not even looking down at him and I saw a woman assassin screaming out a deep battle cry as she swung her own sword, I stabbed my sword into the center of her chest and her eyes widened in surprise and I pulled away as she fell lifelessly.

I switched my boomerblade to boomerang mode and threw it, taking down as many assassins as I could.

"Stop!" I heard and I caught my boomerang, realizing everyone else had just seized their fighting, and standing in the center was Seifer, his own gunblade drawn and pointing at a woman's forhead. She had shoulder length blonde hair, and was also wearing the Primarch's assassin uniform. "Almasy, you have returned for your precious base."

"I told you I would, sugartits." Seifer leered down at her like she was a piece of meat. "This place belongs to me."

"Before I stole it from you." The woman barked, standing up straight, chest out, head held high so the blade was touching her neck. She was certainly unafraid of Seifer Almasy. Even though she was my enemy, she did have my respect for her bravery.

"I'm here to take back what is rightfully mine." Seifer continued to sneer. "The base...and it's owner." He walked closer to her, slowly lowering his sword so it was in the center of her chest, next to where her heart was.

"Are you really man enough to claim what is yours?" She asked, her voice low and...this got weird a little too fast. Seifer leaned in and kissed the woman in front of him, and the two began to make out like there was nobody else in the room.

Rai and Fuu seemed unfazed (I noticed Fuu actually looked a bit angry but didn't act on it), and Sazh and I exchanged a bewildered look. Sazh coughed. "What the hell is goin' on?" He asked.

The pair pulled away breathless and I honestly wanted to gag at their PDA. The woman then pulled out about three small knives in each hand. I got into a battle stance, expecting her to fight against us. But instead she took down each and every one of her own men and women.

Sazh and I stared at the crumpling bodies in absolute shock while Fuu and Rai remained nochalant. Seifer actually laughed and the woman flipping her blonde hair.

I had it. "What the fuck!?" I exclaimed and Seifer glared down at me.

"Who's the kid?" The woman asked.

"I thought you were one of the Primarch's assassins?" I asked, anger bubbling up, "why the hell did you kill off your own people!? Are you part of the disciplinary commitee?"

"I don't work for anyone." She answered, crossing her arms. Seifer wrapped his arm around her rather wide waist.

"But she is with me." Seifer answered. "And I thought I told you to remain silent and mostly out of sight."

"Screw that!" I barked, "I thought she was the enemy. You let me kill these people. When they were getting played from the get go. All because _you're_ sleeping with **him**?"

"Hope..." I heard Sazh coming to my side to calm me down, but at this point, nothing was going to calm me down. Seifer was scum. He was absolute scum. And this..._woman_...I didn't even want to think.

No wonder somebody like Rinoa left him for Squall. There was so much I wanted to do to him right now, but I knew that would blow our cover and that would help no one. "I'm out." I muttered, exiting the base.

"Hope!" Sazh followed after me. When we got to the corridor almost exiting the base Sazh pressed me against the wall and whispered in a warning tone, "you almost blew it, boy."

"Sazh, how could you just stand there and let them do this."

"You think I like this anymore than you do!" Sazh whispered, "we can't let personal emotions get in the way-"

"But-"

Sazh held up a hand, letting me know he wasn't finished. "We are in very dangerous territory. And I'm just as confused as you are. But we **cannot** blow our cover. You understand?"

I fought back angry tears and clenched my fists. Sazh was a caring man, but he was right. Blowing up like that could lead to too many incidents. I could have accidently spilled our secrets, used L'Cie magic unknowingly. Hell, I could have finally summoned Alexander. How would I explain that one? "You're right." I muttered, looking down at my feet.

Sazh patted my head. "Just stick by me, alright. We finished. We just gotta wait for Light..." he paused and smiled and I couldn't help but smile as well when I thought of Light. "...and Snow and then we can hopefully get this focus out of the way. Or just move to the next step, anything is looking good right about now. You think you can hang on til then."

"I guess." I shrugged as Sazh began walking back into the base.

He looked back at me mischievously, "Light..." he trailed off and I had to struggle to bite back another smile.

"Stop..." I whined, trying to stop expressing my emotions so easily. Especially if it was something as embarassing as cheesing like an idiot every time Light was mentioned.

**Lightning's POV**

"Where do y'all think you're goin'?" A fisherman asked as we began untying Seifer's boat...The Boner.

Yes, that's what he named this boat. Snow and Gadot laughed for a good twenty minutes when they saw the name, and Yuj joined in when he found the illustration that went with it. I shook my head, "Right." I muttered.

The boys were adamant on referring to the boat by it's name every chance they got, even making jokes out of it about how we're 'riding The Boner' or the 'The Boner was...' fill in blank with innappropiate adjective.

"Where does it look like we're goin', beardie?" Yuj questioned, "we're going out to sea."

"There's a rule that you can only use a boat if you're fishin'." The fisherman informed us.

"Please," I muttered, "we are on a task to scout out the island that's floating out there."

"You can't go there." Another much younger fisherman said.

"Why not?" I asked.

"It's haunted."

We paused and stared at him. "Right." I muttered again.

"Okay." Snow said awkwardly, "even more reason for us to go. Set sail!"

"Time to release...The Boner..." Gadot cackled and Snow and Yuj giggled as the tanned man went to unravel the rope.

"But everyone's that set sail has never come back." The fisherman tried to persuade us. "They've all disappeared and never came back!"

I stared up at the sky, "Come on wind," I hoped, "blow the sails."

"She said 'blow'!" Yuj screeched and the boys were in another fit of giggling. "Blow The Boner!"

"Oh my gosh, my sides hurt." Gadot whimpered out inbetween laughs.

I groaned, but in spite of myself my lips twitched in amusement. They were going to be having a field day with this.

It was like this for at least two hours we were at sea. And it was starting to get less funny as they ran out of ideas. I must have been spending too much time with them because now I had innocently said, "we have been at this for hours."

I embarressingly let out a slight chuckle when nobody else did, as they got busy with something else. Snow glanced up at me. "What?" he asked me.

Knowing he was going to bother me later I admitted, "I was thinking we've been on The Boner for hours."

Snow grinned and laughed and Gadot and Yuj let out a howl of laughter. "Lightning, you made a joke." Yuj informed me as Gadot and Snow laughed a little bit too hard at my slight poke.

"Anyways," I said, "I was wondering how much further it will be til we get to the island."

"It's not big." Gadot said, as he just pulled out a map from a compartment in the boat. "See, I kept missing it on the map."

I took the paper from him, and the island was just a little brown blot on the map. Even the text was small saying 'Usbenes Island'. "Great hiding place." I muttered folding up the map.

Snow was glancing down at the compass that was sitting in front of him. "We're starting to steer west." He got up from his seat and took control of the wheel, turning the boat back north.

"Hmm..." Yuj began to hum as Gadot began to snooze, still exhausted from last night as we all were. I had to force my eyes to open, when the boat began to gently rock me, lulling me to sleep. "Hey, Lightning." The blue haired man woke me up by leaning slightly against the rocking boat. "How do you feel about swimwear?"

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, Gran Pulse can get pretty hot. And when summertime hits...whoo." Yuj ruffled his hair.

"And?" I questioned with a raise of my eyebrow.

"I was gonna design you some sexy bathing suits-"

"No." I quickly said.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to throw you in some bikini. I do original ideas, you know that." He reassured me, patting my knee.

**General POV**

**Oerba**

Vaan knocked on his own bedroom door, where Reks has been hiding out. "Reks, Vera left."

Reks popped his head out from underneath his bed. "You!" He pointed a figner at his younger brother's face as he shut the door behind him. "You stole my girl!"

"I didn't steal her." Vaan argued.

"Then why was she kissing you? You and not me!"

"I...I don't know." Vaan shied away a bit, "I think she likes me."'

"...why?" Reks asked sitting down on the bed. Vaan realized that his brother was genuinely confused as to why she would like someone like Vaan, but not Reks.

And Vaan wasn't so sure as to why Terra liked him eighter. Not that he was complaining. He was crazy about her. And that kiss...his heart fluttered and his lips tingled when he remembered it. "Reks," Vaan said, sitting down at the edge of his own bed. "I'm in love with her."

"Love?" Reks asked. "You and Terra are in love?"

"Reks, I've never felt this way about somebody before-"

"Ugh..." Reks groaned. "You two are not gonna get all lovey dovey are you?"

Meanwhile, the cold has been going around in the village. Tifa and Yuna were forced to stay in bed, especially after Tifa's spill the day before. Cloud and Tidus were also coming down with a cold, but were forced to work to cover their wives's jobs.

So Tidus stayed at the clinic with the women to take care of them and other patients that came and went. And Cloud as well as Squall took care of the bar/restaraunt.

"Tidus, are you sure you know what you are doing?" Tifa asked the beach blonde, "being a nurse isn't easy."

"Don't worry, Tifa, I got this under control." Tidus reassured, he then sneezed hugely, almost spilling everything on the desk, "I'll take good care of you."

Morrigan then entered the clinic, seeming confused as to why Yuna was laying down while Tidus was trying to pick up the stuff he dropped. "Are you not well to have my check up?" Morrigan asked, seeming pleased that she won't be forced to socialize with the Nurse. "Tis alright, I'll be at the Village Proper."

"Stop!" Yuna said, her voice sounding stuffed up. "You need that check up! Tidus-"

"What?" Morrigan questioned, backing up. "No. I refuse!"

"Come on, Morrigan, I won't hurt you." Tidus approached the pregnant woman.

"**Nooo**!" Morrigan's cry could be heard all the way at the bar/restaraunt.

But mostly everyone ignored it as they worried more about their hunger as they ate Squall's food. Originally, Cloud was supposed to be the cook while Squall tended the drinks, but embarassingly enough, Cloud couldn't cook to save his life, and Squall didn't know anything about alcohol. He rarely drinks.

Plus, nobody wanted to eat after the sneezing Cloud.

So they had to switch jobs. While Cloud was pretty decent with making drinks, he knows exactly what people would want, Squall was actually a pretty good cook. "Rinoa used to make terrible dinner." Squall explained to Amodar when he asked him. "So I had taken over the kitchen. I was pretty decent, can be near a stove without setting everything on fire. And maybe Rinoa suggested got me a cookbook or two."

Amodar chuckled as he took a gulp of his drink. "So what did your wife do?"

"She cleaned." Squall answered. "I'd still help her though." His eye downcasted a bit as he thought of his deceased wife. He moved on to another customer.

Rygdea shortly entered the restaraunt/bar and took a seat next to Amodar. "Laguna's still at the Village Proper." he informed him.

"I was just going to eat my meal than head back there." Amodar told Rygdea.

"Did you want anything?" Squall asked, having done this all day and was far past the embarassed stage.

"No thanks, Leonhart. I will like a drink though."

"Cloud?" Squall told the blonde was pouring glasses. The blonde noded stoicly and grabbed more bottles. Shaking his head when his sinuses bothered him.

"You know why he's doin' this?" Rygdea whispered for only Amodar and Squall to hear. It sounded more of a statement than a question.

"Tifa." Amodar replied, glancing at the blonde as he seriously made more drinks for Rygdea.

"This is his way of winning her over." Squall assumed. "You think it'll work."

"It should work." Rygdea said. "But Tifa doesn't seem the type of woman who is won over that easily. He's gonna have to keep this good guy routine up for a while."

**Lightning's POV**

**Bodhum - At Sea**

I woke up. That was the problem right there. I _woke up_. Meaning, I fell asleep, on a boat, with Snow at the wheel, Gadot navigating with a compass, and Yuj reading the map. I sat up, not caring that my hair was a tangled mess on the top of my mess, and I quickly wiped away the drool from my cheek.

It looked like we were in the middle of nowhere. And we stopped moving.

"Okay, let me see it!" I heard Snow's voice say as he reached for the compass in Gadot's hand who yanked it away.

"No. I got it!"

"I can't believe you broke it, man." Yuj muttered.

"I didn't break it!" Gadot exclaimed. "It just fell. See?"

"It's not moving." Snow groaned.

"Then it means we're going in the right direction. Let me see the map."

"Hey, back up, you beef wedding cake." Yuj was leaning over the boat and I leaped to make sure they didn't drop the only map.

"What are you doing?" I asked a little too loudly.

"**Ah**!" They screamed and Yuj dropped the dumb map.

"No!" I cried about to jump overboard. Snow stopped me. "Let go of me! Our map!

"You can't swin remember!?"

"Get it!" I shoved Yuj off the boat and he splattered clumisly and surprisingly into the water. "Stop sputtering! Get it!"

He didn't say anything else. He held his breath and dove underwater, searching for the probabely broken map. Snow threw me off to the side. "I fall asleep for five minutes and everything falls apart."

"You were actually asleep for an hour, Lightning." Gadot said.

"I don't care. What happened with the compass?" I held out my hand.

The tanned man backed up, hiding it behind his back.

"Gadot, you ain't five. It's not cute. Give it."

Snow shoved him softly in my direction and Gadot let out a terrified whimper as he placed the object in my possession. I looked down at it as they scurried off to help Yuj.

It wasn't moving. The red arrow just stayed on north. I even spun around once or twice and it froze in the same position. I tapped the glass and even knocked it against the side of the boat. "Right."

Yuj was pulled back onto the boar, spitting up water.

"Well?" I asked, standing over him.

"My hair..." he cried, holding his once feathery blue hair, now drenched and laying flat on top of his head. And his make up ran. "Don't look at me I look hideous-whoa!"

I grabbed him by the collar of his coat. "The map! Where's the map!?"

He held up a soggy piece...pieces of paper. It began to fall on top of the boat. Our map was destroyed...and the compass is broken.

"Hey...Sis..." Snow tried coaxing me and I let out a loud and angry scream, hoping for once somebody could hear me and get me off this boat with a bunch of idiots.

"**AH**! I continued to scream until my voice began to crack. I looked back at the boys from NORA, now huddled together at the steer, having been terrified by my sudden scream.

"...you good?" Yuj asked, desperately trying to fix his hair.

"...uh...yeah." I replied, sounding nochalant. "I'm good. Now that I'm done freaking out and gotten over the urge to murder all three of you, we got to figure out how we're gonna get out of sea."

Before we could think of an idea, I felt the boat began to move on it's own as the waters beneath us began to act violently. "What is this?" Snow asked, holding onto the steer.

"Don't do that!" I hollered, "steer north!"

"Where's North?" Snow asked as the waves raised above our head and showered the entire boat. I coughed, keeping my eyes out.

"That way!" I yelled pointing that way, "do not get distracted, go straight!"

I momentarily took the wheel from Snow and steered him in the right direction. Snow tried to fight the steer from me. "I got it, Sis!"

"No, you clearly don't!" I argued back trying to resteer, he was pulling us off course, and the sudden waves weren't making anything easiar.

"Guys! There's something in the water!" Yuj screamed.

"Something big, y'all." Gadot added.

I noticed in the water something long and big. It looked like an eidolon. The water was even beginning to blacken from Chaos? That must mean we're close. "Snow, take care of the wheel. Get us _straight_." I emphasized.

"Enough of the squabblin'!" Yuj lectured us. "One of you get your asses over here so we can shoot this thing down. Lightning?"

I pulled away from Snow, and I ignored the spinning wheel. We were tossed mercilessly in the opposite direction, but Snow managed to retake control, putting us on the right path. "I see it!" Gadot pointed out and we aimed our guns, shooting at the water.

I could hear the creature groan in pain, as a bit of blood surface the blackened water. But the Chaos was overflowing and we could no longer see the creature. Then it jumped up and the water splashed, about to come down on the boat. "Close your eyes and mouth!" I quickly commanded and the water rained down over us.

I shook the chaos from my hair, and wiped my eyes and mouth as much as I could. I looked up and...my dream!

"Snow! That's the Eidolon from the Focus!" I exclaimed, pointing my gun at it.

"So we are on to something!" Snow said.

"Pultis Amicus Veniant." I chanted and we lit up.

"Wait, why am I not lighting up?" Gadot asked. He was in fact the only person not lit up.

"No time!" I quickly said as the Eidolon swooped in close. We began shooting at it, but he was going too fast.

The ship began to crack and Chaos smoke began to surround around us, blocking our sighting up any island. Snow let go of the steering wheel and fell against the floor. The boat split apart seperating Snow from the rest of us.

The Chaos smoke cut us off from him. "Snow!" I called out to him. "Snow! Can you hear me!" I searched desperately for a sign of his aura, but everything was pitch black.

"We're going down!" Gadot screamed, and our half of the boat dropped us into the Chaos waters.

This was it. The Chaos was overwhelming. It was too much, even though the spell was still in tact. I could see the Eidolon from my dream flying over me. And I was helpless, I didn't even know where my gunblade was. Or Snow.

I was falling into unconciousness, and I thought of Serah. How close I was to finding her. And of Sazh and Hope.

Something big and dark loomed over me. But I barely heard anything anymore. My eyes closed and I felt something yank me out of the water.


	22. Chaos Seeps In

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warning: Disturbing Scenes. Nudity. Violence. Blood & Gore.**

**Hope's POV**

**Bodhum - Outside Disciplinary Committee Secret Base**

I never did go back inside the base with Sazh. And he didn't fight me on my decision to stand off outside before going in. But I knew even if I become as cool as a cucumber, Seifer Almasy was just going to reignite my anger like oil to a flame.

I was so deep in thought, I didn't even recognize the bizarre looks I was getting from Bodhum's residents. Sure, Chaos Knights were all over, but none of them were as young as me, as short as me, or as small and tender looking as I am.

It wasn't like I wasn't aware of all this. But it still bothered me that everyone judges me based on how I look. But I should be expecting this kind of stuff to go on for a while. Until eighter everyone gets used to it (which I doubt would happen) or I hit a growth spurt when I get older.

Or at least try to act more masculine.

And it was exactly my vulnerable young boyishness that attracted some fairly young Chaos knights. About in their early twenties. Three of them. "Hey," one of them called out to me. "Why is a shrimp like you wearing our armor. This isn't dress up."

What can I do? "I _am_ a knight of Chaos."

They all guffawed like I told the best joke they heard. "You!? A knight? You're like twelve!"

"Fourteen, for your imformation." I corrected him behind clenched teeth.

"Why would the Boss want a brat like you in his army. As bait?" They laughed again, and it didn't even take Seifer's cruel words to start a spark.

One particularly much bigger one, almost Gadot's height grabbed my armored arm, trying to shake me out of it. "What do you got there underneath? Nothin'?"

"Let go of me!" I cried, trying to tug away from them.

"We just want to see how small you really are?" Another laughed and I managed to swipe my leg underneath the one that grabbed me's foot, knocking him down.

They really were amateurs.

"Why you little shit!" Another groaned and I pulled out my boomerblade, pointing to blade end at the guy that was on the ground, and they just stared at me in surprise.

"How many men have you killed?" I asked. They didn't answer me, and for a moment I wondered why. "I may be small, but I don't play. Not to toot my own horn but you're lucky to have me on _your_ side, or I will slice more than just your armor open." I pulled away, and that's when I noticed all the blood caked up on my blade. "Oh." I gasped at the sight. "Oops. I should probably clean that."

"Is that real blood, man?" The one that had been on the floor got to his feet staring at my dirty and blood incrusted boomerblade.

Just play along Hope. It's not like you're lying, it is human blood. "Yeah. You guys are really new to this line of work, aren't you?"

They looked amongst each other sheepishly. "It's not like we really want to do this, you know. We have no choice."

"We have to prove we are loyal to Chaos. To protect our family and friends."

"I don't even think that is enough."

Lesson learned. Never judge a book by it's cover. Don't assume that a small wimpy looking eighth grader won't fight back. But also don't expect a big butch guy to actually be capable of doing something as drastic as killing a man.

I returned back into the Secret Base. The bodies were gone, but it smelled awful and blood stained the floors and walls. Seifer and his crew were eating around a makeshift table like their surroundings didn't bother them.

I saw Sazh standing off to the side, seeming deep in thought by the furrow of his eyebrows. Fuu wasn't eating eighter. She just sat beside Seifer, watching angrily him feeding his Primarch assassin 'girlfriend' french fries with their mouths.

Rai was just shoveling everything down, and it reminded me of Snow and Gadot's appetite. To be honest I was kind of hungry too, but not hungry enough to be able to stomach any food in this...blood bath.

"Hey, look who's back." Seifer said with a lopsided smirk, as his girlfriend leaned against him on his lap. "Come for some food, have you?"

I shook my head, trying to keep the contents in my stomach (or lack of) from coming up as the smell of spilled blood became stronger.

He shrugged, mouth full. "Suit yourself."

"Little boy?" The assassin woman questioned me. "How old are you?"

Why does everyone want to know my age so badly? I glanced between Sazh then Seifer. The much older dark skinned man looked to be on his toes in case something happens, while Seifer seemed more amused. Fuu and Rai weren't paying atttention, or just chose not to.

"Fourteen." I answered.

"Aw, how cute." She cooed, though she sounded far from sweet. "Do you mind tidying up a bit in here. I would do it for Seifer...but..."

Seifer just smirked knowingly. And frankly, I didn't want to know what they were up to. I depised both of them. This assassin just turned on her own band, just because of her fraternization with Seifer.

I had to keep my guard up. Sazh and I could be next.

"When you say, tidy up? Do you mean scrubbing the blood off the floor. Maybe hanging a painting somewhere?" I questioned.

Rai and Sazh chuckled at my sarcasm and the assassin clicked her tongue unamused. Seifer reached over and smacked Rai upside the head, who then quickly apologized. I already knew Seifer was shooting daggers at me using only his eyes, but at this point I didn't really give a crud if I was on his good side or not.

"Thank you," she spat in a completely phony and fake sweet voice. "Now first you will need a rag," she reached for my neck and yanked out my bandana. How did she know it was even there?

Duh, Hope, she's an assassin. She notices everything. But instead of choking me with it she left the room with _my_ bandana. The one I had basically all my life. The one my mother had when she was younger.

My only reminder of her.

Seifer laughed like it was the most funniest thing, but I kept my face blank, not wanting to let them know of how cruel that move really was to me.

Sure enough, the female 'ass'assin came back with a small wooden bucket, water spilling out of a hole and a bar of soap dropped lazily into the bucket. She plopped it next to me, dropping my bandana into the bucket.

My precious treasure was going to be used as a scrubbing rag. It will be impossible to wear it anymore. I may have used it a couple of times to treat injuries to my comrades last minute, but this...

Sazh kneeled beside me, "Hope-"

"I'm fine Sazh." I said, trying to keep the anger out of my voice. "I'm fine, really."

Sazh realized I needed some space and just stepped back a safe distace away. I sudsed up my beloved bandana and got to my knees scrubbing at the floor. Fighting back angry tears.

**Lightning's POV**

**?**

The first thing I felt was the strong burning in my throat, down to my lungs. I coughed and sputtered up disgusting water and my eyes snapped opened. My eyes burned and I had to rub my eyes in order to see anything.

But instead I realized I was in a dark room. A dark, slowly rocking room. I looked around me and the room was mostly empty. There was an extra bed, but it seemed I was the only room occupant. My head throbbed, almost like I had a hangover, but it was really a side effect from my previous exhaustion topping off with us almost drowning.

Then I remembered Snow! And Gadot and Yuj! What happened to us? I sat up in my bed, realizing my coat and boots were gone. Luckily, my boots were right by the bed and I quickly shoved my feet into them. I exited the room, feeling the rest of the strange place rocking.

Am I...on a ship?

"Hello?" I called out, my hands on the sides of the walls. My head felt like it was about to explode and I was about to stumble over when somebody grabbed me, catching me before I fell.

I looked up and-

"Snow?" I said.

He smiled down at me, helping me to my feet. "How are you feeling, Sis?" he asked me, like I just took a small nap.

"What happened?" I asked, following him up a small set of stairs. "We were attacked by the Eidolon from the dream. And then we were surrounded by Chaos. And then our boat broke and we seperated." I realized I was rambling. To Snow.

What has gotten into me lately?

"These fishermen found us." Snow explained to me. "Saved us rom the Chaos. And...well, come on. They'll explain the rest."

I stared at him for a moment in bewilderment, but instead of saying anything just followed him up. We finally made it to the surface of the fishing ship, the smell of fish more prominent. Everything was pitch black outside, and it was eighter nighttime or an effect by Chaos.

I saw Gadot and Yuj sitting around the front of the ship, and when they spotted me they looked relieved. "Hey, you're up." Gadot sighed, clapping my back when I stood beside him.

"Are you okay?" Yuj asked, and I had to bite back a laugh when his face was void of any make up. He looked more manly without it I noticed.

"I'm fine." I reassured the rest of the team.

"Luckily we were nearby." A fisherman with a long gray bear wearing extremely dingy overalls approached us, carrying a massive fish net. "yet again, we've been out here for almost three weeks. We've actually been stuck in this Chaos fog. Lost some good man here."

"So you've just been sailing through?" I asked.

"Nah, we stayed on a small island for a time. Escaped just in time-"

"An island?" Yuj questioned.

"You escaped?" Snow asked.

"Yeah. It was a nightmare." The fisherman explained. "But everytime we try to get away from the island, we keep finding ourselves heading back there. It's like the Chaos is keeping us within reach."

"You gotta take us there." I informed him. "That's what we came all this way for."

"Are you crazy, woman?" the fisherman exclaimed, getting into my face. His teeth were rotting, his eyes were crossed, and he smelled strongly of fish I had to cover my nose. "We're tryin' to get away from there. An Eidolon resides within along with other unholy creatures."

"That's why we have to get there."

"Wrong again, little missy. That's why we have to get out."

"But that's the key to our escape. If we defeat whatever is causing all this Chaos-"

"No!" The fisherman barked at me. "I saved your life. Your lucky I ain't askin' for a payment. The least you can do is sit quietly and let me figure out a way out."

"I cannot let you do that."

"One moment please." Snow intervened pulling me to the side by my arm. "What are you doing? This guy rescued us, and you're arguing."

"Snow, we got here with a goal in mind. I ain't leavin' until we solved this mystery."

"This kind man is not going to land on the island. He had to escape it. And forget jumping for it. All this water is Chaos. And we can't use that Pultis Amicus spell for the rest of the day."

"Is that the island?" I heard Yuj say pointing into the horizon.

The fisherman walked past me towards the steer. "Wait!" I exclaimed.

"Sis, please don't do this!"

"Sir!" I called out to him, blocking his entrance.

"Step aside, woman." The fisherman demanded.

"I cannot let you turn this ship around. What's the point, the Chaos is just gonna turn you right back around. I need to investigate this island."

"It's dangerous." The fisherman repeated. 'We cannot-"

"Trust me." I swore, staring him straight in the eye, (even though he physically could not). He just blinked.

"Fine. Just go in there and grab me my gun." He limped back to where NORA was. Snow stared at us in surprise that I was able to convince the fisherman to stay...without using violence or anger.

I opened the door, and I was surprised to find along with numerous guns, my own gunblade.

The ship leaned backward as we landed on the island.

"I don't want to get in too deep." The fisherman reminded us as we climbed off the boat. It was still dark and and fogged with Chaos. But it didn't seem to harm us, surprisingly. I heard a deep bass surrounding us.

My ears rang from the sound, and I tried my best to ignore it so I could find my way. "What exactly are we looking for?" Yuj asked.

"We need to find where this Chaos is coming from." I informed the rest of the group.

"It's possible that actual Chaos isn't here, but another fragment." Snow explained. "Maybe a summoning, bringing up all this Chaos and invading Bodhum."

"So what you're saying is, if we get rid of whatever it is conjuring up all this Chaos," Gadot began, "then we can save our home."

"Not right away, obviously." Yuj added in, "but there's also that Eidolon from your dreams that helped ripped The Boner apart."

"We're not going to hear the end of it from Seifer." Snow muttered, rubbing his bandana.

"We're onto something." I said, heading into the jungle. "And we're not leaving until we find something. Anything."

"Be careful what you wish for, Farron." Yuj warned.

"We're never gettin' off this island," the fisherman complained. "Wait...do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Gadot asked.

We all stopped in our tracks and listened, pass the hard bass that Chaos typically makes. After, in the sliver of a window of silence you can hear a woman singing. Her voice was distorted and disguised, like she really wasn't there. In fact, she sounded close to a Chaos Infusion.

I drew my gunblade, placing a finger to my lips and gestured the rest of the gang to follow me, as I listened out to the woman. "Vetus interit..." the woman sang. "infirmum iuvenesque..."

"What is she saying?" Yuj asked and I shushed him, but I didn't think he could hear me over the loud bass. Snow grabbed us both by the back of our shirts, forcing us to duck behind a group of trees.

I could barely make out a small and chubby woman, oozing with Chaos in an almost revolting way. Her hair was jet black and dripping and she was huddled over a Chaos contaminated pond, slurping up the poisoned liquid.

She squirmed and I heard a slight gag reflux sound as she took in the liquid. She threw her head back and swallowed with a sigh. She continued to sing..."Omnes nos pressit oculos nostros...Nos omnes nostram propinquus mentibus..."

Her singing was interupted by another bass followed by the sound distorted roaring. I looked above me, expecting the Eidolon to fly over us. The girl's head snapped to the side, and I could faintly see the black Chaos liquid oozing from her mouth. "Who is it?" She asked in a sing song voice, her teeth screw up and rotten yellow.

"This bitch is cray." Yuj muttered, eyes wide.

But I wasn't afraid of her. She is somebody I can deal with. I emerged from within the trees, ignoring the pleads from the fishermen and the rest of NORA.

She turned around all the way, black streams of chaos pouring from her eyes and she let out a devious laugh.

"Hm..." Gadot groaned from behind me. "That's nasty."

"Can't we save her?" Snow asked.

"Are you out of your minds!" The fisherman exclaimed as the woman squatted in a protective position. She didn't look like she was going to move from her spot as long as we stayed a few feet away. And I had yet to draw my gunblade.

"I was like her...wasn't I?" Gadot asked, seeming appaled.

"Well, you were less gross." Yuj comforted him.

"Maybe we can bring her back to normal." Snow said confidently.

"We don't know her, Snow." I had said.

Of course, I knew Snow was going to rage about how she needs a hero. But it was different with Gadot. He was a comrade, a friend. If we tried to save every single person we come across, we'll never reach Serah in time.

Snow looked angry with my decision, but with a reassuring pat on the back by Yuj he instantly calmed down.

"What is it you come all this way for, sirs?" The Chaos Infusion woman asked, crawling slowly towards us, bowing her head. "Have you come to seek out the entity that holds the Chaos here?"

"What is this entity?" I asked. "What's conjuring up so much Chaos? It's seeping into Bodhum." I explained to her.

"It lies within my love." she said. "it feeds my sister. And is drained by humans. Only two humans have been used. Once the second one is complete, Bodhum will officially belong to Chaos. The third human will officially claimed the melting Lake Bresha."

"Lake Bresha's melting?" I asked.

"Yeah." Snow responded. "Hope told me after we came back to Gran Pulse from our supply and survivor search. We are up to something. This is how Chaos is controlling Cocoon. This is how he's taking over these places. If we cut off this entity. We can save Cocoon once and for all!"

"It'll all be over." The fisherman sighed. "I know I was against you when you first suggested to land on this island. But you have my support now. What do we do?"

"I have wanted to escape for so long..." The woman whimpered, her black eyes downcasting. "But it's too late for me. I can't get Chaos's voice out of my head. He controls me. He controls everyone on this island. The Chaos is at it's strongest here. Kill my sister and love."

"Will you really help us?" Snow asked.

"I can't fight with you. I am already dead. There's no way of saving me. It's too late. Now hurry, before the Chaos claims all of you too." The woman stood up quickly and ran away like a frightened wild animal.

"That poor chick." Yuj said. "Where are we going to find her sister and lover?"

A loud roaring over the bass shook the entire island. "Is that a Chaos Infusion?" The fisherman asked.

"No." Snow responded. "that woman was a Chaos Infusion. That sounded like something bigger and tougher to beat."

"What do you think the bass is?" Yuj asked. "Is that the sound of summoning?"

"What do you think happens to the Eidolon?" Gadot asked.

"Now is not the time for questions." I warned them. "We have to move or we die."

More roaring, sounding much closer that I had to cover my eyes, my head still bursting. "Follow me." I ordered, trying to listen out for the dangerous Chaos Infusion.

The trees moved as I reentered the jungle to navigate safely, instead of into the arms of the enemy. I heard cracking.

"Sis! Look out!" Snow exclaimed.

I looked up just in time to see a tree hurtling my way. It was much too late for me to move. Gadot suddenly jumped in front of me, and was able to hold the tree above his head. "Go!" He commanded. "I'll be alright."

I ran past him and Snow and Yuj hustled past him as well. Gadot tossed the tree effortlessly aside. "How did you do that?" Yuj asked.

"I don't know." Gadot answered, looking down at his hands.

"You said you have control of the Chaos within you. Maybe that's one of the perks." Snow responded.

"Sweet." Gadot grinned.

"But when there are perks, there are also disadvantages." I warned him. "Be careful with that."

More roaring, dangerously close that my left ear popped. "Where's the fisherman?" I could faintly hear Yuj ask.

"Uh, guys." Snow mouthed, staring between more trees in front of us.

The fisherman were in the hands of a towering Chaos Infusion. It was three times the size of Snow, and she was naked, dripping liquidified Chaos. Her hand shoved down his throat and he let out a gargling scream.

"He's in danger!" Snow cried, running past me.

I tried screaming after Snow but the horrendous bass swallowed up my words. I drew my gunblade and ran after him. "Pultis Amicus Veniant!" I chanted.

Please work. Please work. Please work.

I was surprised that the aura surrounded our beings, even glowing brighter a bit. I also noticed that instead of generic white, Gadot's aura was a flaming black. Symbolizing his controlled Chaos powers.

The fisherman was far along from saving, having been reduced to nothing more than black and red mush. This Chaos Infusion was the most powerful one I've ever encountered. She noticed us and screamed reaching for us, and her arms extended!

"Jump!" I leaped in Gadot's direction, Snow and Yuj opposite of us, barely missing a Chaos Infused arm. It was like fighting Ochu. It retracted it's arm and I charged forward so I was facing it upright. She went for another grab, her hands dripping and I did a cartwheel to avoid it.

I sliced my blade cutting off her hand. "Can't grab people anymore, huh?" I teased.

But then we all saw the pools of liquidified Chaos within it's arm. "Shit." Yuj cringed as she held up her arm like a gun. "Watch out!"

Squirt!

Chaos shot out like a firehose, getting Gadot. He didn't react, since he was immune to anymore Chaos.

This was up to him. "Gadot here!" I tossed him my gunblade. "Slice open her stomach!"

"What!?" He exclaimed.

"You're the only one completely immune to Chaos. Hurry!" I leapt away, trying to avoid the overflowing Chaos.

Gadot charged towards the woman and successfully sliced open her stomach. He had to work the blade a bit, but soon, streams were shooting, drenching Gadot completly. She screamed, crumplng within herself, having been filled up with liquidified Chaos like a water baloon.

I sniffed and coughed. "That was the grossest thing I ever had to fight. Ever." I informed the rest.

Gadot handed me my completely black gunblade. I grabbed my cleaning rag from my pouch, wrapping it around the hilt until it dried up and was no longer poisonous. I transformed it to gun mode and the Chaos scraped off in a goop.

I grunted in disgusted as I completly closed it.

**General POV**

**Eden**

Serah Farron hasn't been doing much lately, ever since she's been captured by the Primarch's right hand man, and forced into a marriage. She was given everything a woman could ask for. The most extravegant clothes, a luxurious room in a massive home. Servants heeding to her every wish. Eating the most delicious meals and receiving the best treatment.

The Primarch had claimed that his lady is the only woman in the world who deserves the best.

But Serah was miserable. She cried every night to sleep. She cried most of the day, waiting for her true love Snow to rescue her. But he has not been here. She was starting to wonder if Snow really did care for her at all.

Or it could be worse. He could be dead. Been killed by the Primarch for trying to save her. That made her cry even harder. At the thought of being trapped here. Whenever the Primarch wanted to show her off to the world with public appearances, he would order the servants to clean her up and demand she not cry in front of the people.

This was the hardest job Serah was ever forced to do.

She was once again in her room, crying into a pillow when she heard a knock on the door. She was expecting one of the servants or even the Primarch himself to see her. She didn't care. "Go away!" She sobbed. "Leave me alone!"

"Mi'Lady." Serah heard a young man's voice. Most likely the Primarch's sixteen year old brother, Larsa Solidor. "I have a guest here with me, who wants to see you. May we come in?" he asked.

Serah's hopes risen. She leaped to her feet, putting her heels back on and scurrying to the bathroom. "Just a moment." She responded as she fixed her tassled hair and washed her face, reapplying her make up.

She learned to do this everytime a servant or the Primarch made her come out of the room. "Come in." She replied, sitting at the edge of her bed like a lady should.

Larsa poked his head in, making sure Serah was in fact decent. But then the door slammed opened and Ruby, wearing a dark green silk long sleeve shirt with white velvet skinnies, with green pointy heeled opened toed sandals, her long brown hair combed back, the bandana wrapped around her neck, and a dark green frilly flower pinning the right side of her head, wearing dark green make up, opened the door with a grin.

"Serah, honey!" She squealed trying to run in her heels towards a dejected Serah, pulling her into a hug. "I missed you! When you came to my performance, I was so happy. But then you told me your story and I was worried about you the rest of the play, and you didn't even say bye to me when you left."

"How did you get in here?" Serah asked, her voice going back to sounding solemn.

"Oh it wasn't easy." Ruby explained, flipping her hair. "Can you believe nobody recognized me. Even when I flashed my bazingas at the knights I couldn't get in right away. Luckily, this dashing young man rescued me from the mean men, and told me he'd take me to you."

She patted Larsa on the head, making him pout. "I thought maybe seeing your friend would cheer you up Mi'Lady."

Serah didn't say anything. She didn't even smile. She got up and walked towards her bedroom window. "She's been very depressed, ma'am." Larsa explained to Ruby.

"Serah." Ruby said. "I'm sure your man's comin' for you. He came for you before?"

"Then why hasn't he come here yet?" Serah asked, tears threatening to stream out her eyes. "Does he not know where I am?"

"Of course he knows-" Larsa was cut off my an angry Serah.

"Then where is he? Why hasn't he saved me yet? He has an airship."

"It's complicated." Larsa whispered. "But I assure you. "Your true fiance is coming for you."

"I can't stay here any longer." Serah cried. "I don't trust anyone here."

"Do you not trust my brother?"

"NO! He's been awful to me!"

"What?" Larsa exclaimed, seeming appaled at Serah's statement. But he didn't get angry or yell at her for speaking ill of her brother. "Do you trust me?"

"You're his brother, Larsa." Serah pointed out.

Larsa approached Serah and she flinched when she felt his prescence next to her. She gasped when he took her hand and made her look at him. "Listen to me, Mi'Lady. The men of my family, we are taught to place the needs of others before those of our own. I will see that you are kept from harm. I give you my word."

Serah just stared at him, still not being able to trust him.

**Lightning's POV**

**Bodhum - Usbenes Island**

"You see that?" Gadot asked, pointing towards seperate black Chaos clouds, flowing in the same direction, within more trees. Standing in the center of it was a man with a brown suit on. His olive colored hair gelled back.

"Ciel?" Yuj recognized the man.

The man, Ciel turned around upon hearing his name, and I could see clearly him holding a black and red glowing box. It was made out of crystal, but you could see the Chaos swirling around inside.

"Yuj..." the man answered in a calm voice. "What are you doing here?" he asked him.

"I could ask you the same thing." Yuj said.

"You know him?" Snow asked, leaning toward him.

"We had a fling a few months back. I knew I recognized the woman..." Yuj trailed off shamelessly.

"You skank." Gadot coughed, and the blue haired man elbowed him in the ribs.

"What is this?" I asked, referring to the box and the Chaos clouds. "Are you the one releasing all this Chaos. And summoning the Eidolon."

He held up the box. "You are a clever girl." He replied. "And you are no knight of Chaos. You really think I'd fall for the armor. I have more power than all of the knights combine. I am closer to Chaos than anyone else is. And when we take over Cocoon, he is going to put me in charge."

"You really fell for that." Snow muttered, face palming.

"What exactly are you going to try to do, Ciel?" Yuj asked. "Kill off all the women?"

"Funny." Ciel muttered sarcastically. "I refuse to tell you."

"That's because Chaos ain't gonna give you no power." Gadot informed him. "He takes up as much suckers into believing they gonna have a little bit of his power just to get you to do things. He's just gonna take it away from you when he gets what he wants. Duh?"

"Do you not see the power that is in my hand!" Ciel voice raised as he held the box, the bass going off as more Chaos bursted out. One of the streams disappeared. He smiled. "It's mine now. Bodhum is mine!"

"Sazh and Hope!" I exclaimed.

**General POV**

**Bodhum**

Lebreau and Maqui were sleeping heavily in one of the hotel rooms. (On seperate beds of course). But it was Lebreau who heard the heavy knocking on the door. She opened her eyes and realized everything was pitch black, she then saw the Chaos seeping into her room.

"Maqui!" She exclaimed, jumping off her bed and waking Maqui up. "Dude, we gotta get out of here! Chaos is here I think!"

"What?" Maqui grumbled sitting up, and fixing his goggles that were wrapped crazily on the top of his head.

The door was kicked down and several knights crowded the hotel door, keeping the two from escaping. Lebreau and Maqui grabbed their guns and aimed.

In the GC HeadQuarters, Zone noticed the strange behavior emitted by the Chaos Knights.

"Uh, sir," Watts stuttered, "some strange phenomenon is takin' place, sir."

"What?" Bartholomew whispered when he saw the Chaos infesting the HeadQuarters. He quickly shut the door to the office, hoping to keep the Chaos from seeping in. "Valentine...there's-Valentine?"

Vincent was shaking violently against the desk and Bartholomew was about to approach the knight but Watts held him back while Zone backed against the door in fright. The sound of bending metal could be heard as Vincent basically shredded his armor as two wicked black and red wings sprouted from his back.

His skin paled and his teeth were sharpened. A burst of Chaos surrounded him as the ceiling was ripped away. Bartholomew gasped when he saw the reddened sky and the amounts of Chaos that was soaring through. Bodhum was doomed.

Vincent transformed into a dangerous beast and flew high.

In the Secret Base, the room shook, and Seifer, Rai, and Fuu seemed to have shared a knowing look with one another. Hope was desperatly trying to clean the blood and dirt out of his now dingy bandana. Seifer's backstabber girlfriend watched Hope condescendingly the entire time.

"What is that?" Sazh asked when he heard the sound of wicked laughing. The door swung open and Chaos flooded in.

"Ah!" The woman laughed, "the Chaos is alive baby."

Seifer grinned evily and drew his gunblade. Hope drew his gunblade in response, expecting Seifer to be trying to kill him. But instead he stabbed his girlfriend who's eyes widened in surprise. She looked down as the blood streamed out the corner of her mouth. She touched her wound and screamed. "Seifer, why!" She continued to scream as he pulled out his gunblade.

"Shut up, bitch." Seifer said nochalantly and shot her in the head.

Hope glared at Seifer, and was about to do something when Seifer snapped his neck towards him. he noticed his eyes, once sea green, now a blood red. "You're not a knight. You're a L'Cie!"

"Kid! Time to go!" Sazh hollered and was tackled down by a possessed Rai, his eyes also a striking red. Fuu tag teamed with Rai in forcing the armor off so they could kill him.

Hope went to help his much older friend but Seifer sliced his armor open and pinned him down in the heap. Hope grunted as he felt a part of his armor pierce his back. Seifer's gunblade was in blade mode and he tried to slit Hope's neck. Hope grabbed a hold of Seifer's blade and forced it away from his neck.

Hope cried when he felt the tip cut skin, feeling beads of blood trickling down his neck. The blade was sharp enough to cut throuh his glove and slice his hands. _Wait, I can use magic now._ Hope remembered and multi tasked on keep his hands from getting chopped off completely and making sure Seifer does not succeed and killing him.

He also had to save Sazh from Rai and Fuu. Hope saw his survival knife, not far from him and quickly grabbed it stabbing Seifer in the neck. He let out a cry and Hope managed to kick him off him, not before receiving a deep gash across his neck.

Hope gasped and summoned healing magic to it, but blood was still spurting out, and he was starting to lose blood. Hope pocketed his survival knife, now free from the armor, and picked up his boomerblade. He stabbed Rai in the back and Sazh kneed Fuu in the good eye, Hope helepd him up to his feet, having successfully gotten his own armor off and they attempted to flee, dodging the Chaos.

Seifer began shooting his gun at them, holding his own neck.


	23. Cieth Invasion

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warning: Violence, Blood & Gore.**

**General POV**

**Bodhum**

Maqui and Lebreau stared in shock at the Chaos knights that suddenly turned on them. How did they even know they were against them. It wasn't like they had L'Cie powers. Before any of them could attack, Lebreau grabbed her gun from under the bed and shot them all down with a battle cry.

Once they were all down, the Chaos began to infest the hotel room. "Time to go!" Maqui announced, grabbing his own gun and grasping Lebreau's hand, running out of the hotel. Chaos's evil laugh echoed throughout as the lights flickered.

More knights were in the hallways, barging into hotel rooms and the two NORA members had to suppress the urge to help these innocent people. They had to get to Bartholomew. They don't have much time before this place becomes totally Chaos.

"Bart better be ready to get into that airship." Lebreau muttered as they flew down flights of stairs, not wanting to take a chance with the elevator.

"What about Sazh and Hope!?" Maqui asked.

"Fuck me!" Lebreau groaned. When they finally made it down, most of the staff had inhaled the Chaos cloud and were now possessed. They were attempting to lock them in, but Lebreau pulled out her gun once more and shot the glass, nailing some possessed bell hoppers.

"Sorry!" Maqui apologized, even though they were no longer human.

Bartholomew, Zone, and Watts had decided to climb out of the opening Vincent had left behind as they witnessed the Chaos begin to seep in under the door cracks. "What happened to him?" Zone asked after he and Watts helped the older Council leader out of the building.

"I...I don't know, sir." Watts admitted.

"My son! We have to get to my son!"

"I'm sure he's on his way, sir." Zone assured Bartholomew who looked in a panic, holding up a pistol.

All of Bodhum was flooded with black Chaos clouds. People were screaming and running away, while some got caught up in it and were possessed. Eyes glowing red. Chaos was taking control of these people.

"Where are we gonna go, sir?" Watts asked.

"We need to go find this Cosmos. I don't know where she is though. It was Lightning and Snow who found her...I think in PalumPolum."

"What about Lightning and Snow?" Zone asked, as they finally got to the ground. "Should we wait for them?"

"We do not have any time." Bartholomew reminded the Forest Owls. "We're leaving...even if Hope doesn't make it in time."

But there was no need for Bartholomew to worry about, because Sazh and Hope had only just passed them. "Wait, my dad!" Hope exclaimed about to head back to the GC HeadQuarters. Bartholomew was already far ahead with Watts and Zone, heading for the airship as well.

"Do you not see this, kid?" Sazh questioned. "I'm sure your dad's already gone."

"...y-you're right." Hope quickly said, following Sazh out of the town.

Maqui and Lebreau just spotted Sazh and Hope. "Guys!" Lebreau called out.

Suddenly, Maqui pulled Lebreau to the side as some sort of fireball shot at them. They looked up and saw a red winged beast, straining in the air. "Oh my gosh..." Lebreau exclaimed. "What the fuck is that?"

The creature, once Vincent Valentine, hollered in pain as the Chaos burned inside him. He exploded and another series of fireballs shot out. Lebreau and Maqui started running away from the fireballs. Hope looked back upon hearing this. "Oh! It's Lebreau! And Maqui!"

"Hope!" Sazh screamed when the kid ran back.

"Hope, watch out!" Lebreau warned him as Vincent continued to hurl spells as he fought against the Chaos.

"Go!" Hope screamed, barely missing a fireball, some sparks having gotten onto his shirt.

The four ran together outside of the town, heading for the docks, just in time to see Bartholomew getting into the airship. "He's leavin'!" Hope warned the group and sprinted faster.

Sazh suddenly stopped...remembering his sister in law. What would happen to them if he left them here. "Sazh?" Maqui stayed behind for him. "What are you doing!? We gotta go!"

Sazh turned back around and witnessed Lightning's house getting caught on fire. He thought of all the pictures and furniature inside getting destroyed. Lightning's home was really gone. Felicia and her kids...could be dead.

"**Sazh**!" Hope hollered from outside the airship. "Hurry up!"

**Lightning's POV**

**Bodhum - Usbenes Island**

The man, Ciel ran off with the box. I pulled out my gunblade, intending to shoot him down, but Yuj was already on it, chipping off a fragment of the Eidolith in his hand. I could hear the roar of the Eidolon from my dream, approaching us.

"Dammit!" I swore as I followed Ciel deeper into the woods. That was when I heard the clash of a Primarch knight's sword, with Ciel's. He was weakening, from all the Chaos.

"Let go." He muttered.

"You cannot rid me of this." Ciel barked, hovering his body over the box shaped Eidolith like his life depended on it.

Then that Eidolon, the one from my dreams, the one Ciel was summoning arrived, landing in the middle of the island.

He was huge. and long. He resembled more of a serpent, with black and tinted purple scales. The black Chaos aura was resonating off it's long body. "Leviathan?" I questioned.

"That's our Eidolon?" Snow questioned.

The Chaos serpeant roared, slithering it's way towards us. I enhanced my blade with lightning magic. This should be easy. When it stretched it's long body upward I made to decapitate his head, like in the dream.

But instead, my blade just scraped the surface, almost like metal against metal. Leviathan roared angrily at my actions and swooshed it's tail, throwing Snow and I back. We fell on top of each other in a heap while Yuj called out to us.

Yuj ducked quickly as Ciel pulled out a pistol and started shooting down his ex lover. "I will have power!"

I sat up from on top of Snow and reached into my chest. "Odin." I whispered, summoning him.

Ciel watched us in anger. "Shit! She has the thunderous stallion! Take care of it, Leviathan!"

Ciel hopped onto the back of, what I now realized was his Eidolon. Then he ripped open his shirt, revealing a L'Cie brand dead center on his chest. It was still progressing. "I don't have much time! Let's complete this Focus!"

"Your Focus?" I repeated, mounting my Eidolon. Leviathan swooped in and Odin hopped over. I spun the dual swords around, sending electric waves towards the water serpeant. I saw the great Eidolon twitch in discomfort. "What's your Focus?"

"Letting Chaos reign. And defeating any who gets in his way. Including your precious Cosmos, and your Primarch!" Another swipe. I shook as a bolt of electrcity coursed through me. Odin violently twitched from the impact along with me.

"Who gave you your Focus?" I continued questioning while I fought him off with my swords. He began shooting at my Eidolon who neighed in protest and galloped away from his line of fire.

"A Fal'Cie. From Pulse."

"Is that really what he told you to do?" I continued my interrogation, trying to snap some sense into him. I had at one point thought my Focus was to destroy Cocoon.

"Chaos did. My Focus was to summon Leviathan. It would save people..."

"Save people?" I heard Snow said underneath us. "You're not makin' any bit of sense. First you say you're on Chaos's side. Then you say you want to save people. Do you not know that Chaos isn't a savior. He's an exterminator."

"He's tryin' to wipe out our people." Gadot added.

"No..." Ciel said, seeming at a lost. "He said...he said I would become a God. I can save these people."

"He's a liar, Ciel!" Yuj yelled. "Don't believe Chaos's words! He's a liar! He's brainwashing you, man. He's having you believe that so you can help him destroy Cocoon and everyone in it."

"...why would he want to destroy Cocoon..." Ciel trailed off.

He began to lower his sword...and the strangest thing, I never knew could happen. Leviathan, his Eidolon, having made Ciel earn his respect and loyalty, broke his oath. He snatched Ciel with its tail and began to suffocate him.

"What in the world..." The Primarch knight groaned.

Odin transformed to his standard mode, setting me down. I never saw such behavior in Eidolons before. Odin looked down at me, patting my head, then taking his sword. He challenged Leviathan.

The sea serpeant let go of Ciel, the man hunching over as he struggled for air. Leviathan stared down Odin. Then Odin went for a flourishing sweep, Leviathan slithering away, slowly wrapping the Eidolon in it's body.

He brought his sword up, launching the sea serpeant into the air and leaped up after it like a ninja. He put his sword forward to split Leviathan in half, but instead the sea serpeant snapped his jaws at Odin's hands, swallowing the sword!

Leviathan wrapped Odin up and landed back on the ground like a cannon ball. Rolling around knocking down trees. Ciel was being comforted by Yuj. That was when I noticed his L'Cie brand finished progressing. "Yuj get back!" I commanded, having been so absorbed in the battle between the Eidolons I hadn't notice at first.

Yuj jumped away as Ciel finished his transformation. He stood up, swaying and dragging a limp arm. His hair was beginning to gray and his eyes began to blacken. This guy never had a chance.

But wait...The L'Cie is no longer...human. What happens to Leviathan.

He wasn't disappearing or returning to his Eidolith. In fact, the Eidolith was no longer glowing.

So why was Leviathan still battling my Eidolon. Could it be...that because Leviathan was already summoned out of it's crystal before the L'Cie became a cieth...he can no longer return to where he came from...

...so he's trapped.

Ciel was just another pawn in the Fal'Cies game, which I had once upon a time believed were gone for good.

Leviathan was free...which means he seeks havoc.

It was like he knew his master was no longer alive and unraveled itself from Odin who was beaten down, and looked utterly defeated. Leviathan swooped up, and back into the ocean. I ran towards Odin who was breathing heavily.

He looked up at me, his glowing green eyes dim and sad. _I have failed you_...I heard his voice echo within my head.

I reached out to his hand that was still holding his blade, stuck in the ground. He began to disintegrate into flower petals and returned to my L'Cie brand, my crystal renewed.

Snow picked up Ciel's Eidolith, the crystal crumbling onto the ground. Yuj stared at what had become a Ciel.

"A quick death is merciful." The Primarch knight informed the blue haired man. Yuj nodded, holding up his gun. Pop!

**General POV**

**Airborne**

"What do you think happened?" Hope asked, as Lebreau helped bandage his neck up.

"I think Soldiergirl and Trenchcoat made things worse." Sazh admitted. "Ugh!"

Vincent, still in Chaos form flew in front of the airship. Everyone just stared at the strange phenomenon that was in front of them.

"Okay..." Sazh sighed, "let's just...steady..." The darkskinned man said, trying to ease around Vincent, like he was just a simple obstacle. Vincent continued to watch with his glowing golden eyes. He didn't look like he was planning on hurting everybody, in fact he looked quite familiar.

He looked like he was waiting...and whatever he was waiting for soon arrived, out of the ocean in a big wave. The airship faltered as water almost swallowed up the transportation. Hope noticed it was the Eidolon from his dream, and now he saw who it was. "Leviathan." He breathed.

The Eidolon dove back into the water and Chaos Vincent looked back at the airship, before following Leviathan's trail...

Hope took note of Vincent's behavior. "He's on our side." He answered.

"What?" Bartholomew asked as Hope turned back around in his seat.

"He's on our side. Vincent wasn't only living among Chaos knights. He let him give him his power. If he was truly with Chaos, he would have easily killed us. But he didn't. He was looking me dead in the eye."

"Hope," Bartholomew tried to reason with his son. "We can't trust anyone."

"I didn't say I trusted him." Hope informed his father, before moving so he was sitting next to Maqui.

"Let's go pick up our boys," Lebreau announced. "And Light."

**Lightning's POV**

**Usbenes Island**

I watched the Primarch knight die, as he was unable to get control of Chaos that was within him. And for the first time in a long time...I felt a weight off my heart, from all the Chaos dodging I've been doing.

Leviathan will return, but for now...there was silence.

Gadot, tried scraping the Chaos caked up onto his body.

We heard the sound of an airship. "They found us." Snow informed the group and we had to find a way out of the trees so our friends can see us.

They landed on the other side of the island just as we emerged. Maqui and Lebreau were the first to jump off, hugging Gadot, Yuj, and Snow. Sazh and Hope also came out of the airship to help us get Snow and my armor off. Then Sazh patted me on the head, his face looking heavy with a burden.

Something bad has happened, I figured. As I watched Sazh get back in the pilot seat quietly. Hope looked back at me, and I knew he wanted to tell me. Maybe when we're alone. I pulled him into a hug and that's when I noticed the bandage on his neck.

I pulled away, fingering it. "What happened?" I asked, sitting next to him as everybody else got settled.

"It's a long story." Hope warned me. "But I had gotten in a bit of a scrap with Seifer."

"Seifer did this to you?"

"Well," Sazh interupted, changing the topic. "Where are we headed next?"

"We need to get to PalumPolum." Hope informed us. "After all that's happened, we need Cosmos's help more than ever."

"But they said she isn't home." Snow said.

"We still gotta go there and figure out what happened." Hope said.

"PalumPolum it is." Sazh yawned, and I realized that it was getting late. This would be our second sleepless night. "Let's...stop somewhere and get some shut eye. If you hadn't notice, we were a bit sloppy today."

"Yeah, let's rest."

**The next day**

We had spent the night outside of the Gapra Whitewood, near the Vile Peaks. None of us got out, except maybe every once in a while one of us went outside to use the bathroom. But mostly everybody was sound asleep. I think Gadot found some sort of river or lake or any type of watersource and managed to wash the chaos off his body. That would have been very toxic if it had gotten on anybody else.

I know I slept hard, Snow's snoring didn't wake me up like it used to, and I wasn't bothered when Hope began to cuddle against my chest like he usually does when he's within the vincinity.

Sazh must have been the first one up, because once everybody else did, we were in PalumPolum. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauties." Sazh greeted.

The airship door opened and Lulu carefully squeezed in the airship. "My..." She trailed off. "You all slept in this small space?"

"We've haven't been getting the best of sleep." Snow informed her, wedging himself out of the airship and stretching.

We all exited the airship, squinting at the sun. "I can see you are all quite tired." Lulu said, crossing her arms. "But I am sorry to say that you may not be able to relax just yet."

"Of course we wouldn't." I muttered sarcastically. There's problems everywhere.

"We heard about Cosmos's disappearance." Bartholomew said, pushing up his glassess.

"I'm afraid the situation is more grave than Cosmos's absence. Come with me to her palace." Lulu spun on her heel and led us to a long white and blue car. It was wide enough where all of us could fit. I sat with Hope, Bartholomew, and Sazh. Snow sat with Yuj and Maqui, and Gadot sqeezed in with Lebreau, Zone and Watts.

Bartholomew seemed suspicous of the special treatment that Cosmos gave us, despite her not even being here. The complete opposite of Chaos, who made you feel as unwelcome as possible.

A small table popped up with a bowl of strawberries and vanilla icecream.

Nobody made a move, bewildered. Even Hope, who I can tell was really hungry by the way he was secretly eyeing the icecream. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a small glass that was sitting by the side of the door, scooping Hope some icecream. "Here." I offered him.

Hope stared at me wide eyed, this was the first time he had sweets in a long time. "Thanks." He accepted the glass from me.

"Do you want one, Mr. Estheim?" I asked his father.

"I'm good." Bartholomew said, face tight.

"You didn't eat anything this morning." Sazh reminded him.

"Icecream for breakfast?" Bartholomew asked and Hope stopped before he took a bite. I patted the silver haired teenager's leg in reassurance.

"I'll have one, Soldiergirl." Sazh said, "just a little bit though. I don't do so well with dairy. Can only have small portions."

I grabbed two more glasses for Sazh and I, and I caught Hope taking his first bite, eyes glistening with excitement, and cheeks flushing from the rush of flavor. It made me smile.

When we finally got to Cosmos's pristine white mansion, our bellies were happy having finally been fed something good for once. Lulu invited us into the giant home and inside were all sorts of servants in white and blue robes, still tending to Cosmos's mansion even though she was no longer home.

"What's going on?" Yuj asked.

Lulu sighed, turning around, her braids swinging around as she did so. "It's the Cieth."

"Cieth?" Snow asked. "They're here."

"They are coming here." Lulu informed us. "From all over. And we do not know why. Cosmos usually keeps a barrier that keeps Chaos and other danger from invading."

"So Chaos can come?" Zone asked.

"No." She answered. "I was able to learn the Chaos spell from her before he disappearance. But as you know, Cieth are of the Fal'Cie. They were once human, L'Cie, that failed their Focus. Chaos is able to brand others as a L'Cie before...but for some reason he has lost the power to do so. We do not know yet why this has happened. All we know is that we are safe from Chaos...but not from the cieth."

"But what's drawing them here?" Sazh asked. "Is there something here?

"Not that we are aware of." Lulu said. "Truth be told there is still so much I do not know about Cosmos. So many places I have yet to explore. Firstly, we need to take care of these Cieth that are invading PalumPolum. Keep them out so they will stop hurting others. Then once we have finally erected a new magical barrier, we will explore PalumPolum and figure out what's bring them here. Then...we look for Cosmos."

"We can save time by watching the direction their going." Hope added in. "It'll narrow it down to just one place."

"Good." Lulu said. "We are short on fighters. We are a magical army, so we would need some people to teach our volunteers how to shoot. The only person who knows how is my husband, Wakka."

"We can handle that." Maqui volunteered NORA.

"Gathering information is my specialty, sir." Watts repeated and Snow snorted.

Lulu found the idea pleasing. "Good. Then I have a job for you and your friend to do."

"OW!" Zone clenched his belly and winced.

"Is he alright?" Lulu asked.

"He does that. Just ignore him." I informed her.

"You L'Cie." Lulu informed us, "some of the Primarch's knights are coming in to help us. Truth be told I do not trust the Primarch, Vayne Solidor. So I want you to keep tabs on them and make sure they are up to no good. And..." She gestured towards Hope's father.

"Bartholomew Estheim." He introduced, bowing a bit. "Forgive me for my lack of matters."

"I do not take offense." Lulu reassured him, "I have a job specially for you. You will find the volunteers will be in the Agora. The Primarch's men will be arriving where your airship is, back where you came. Take them wherever they request. They will not be staying at the palace."

"Why?" Lebreau asked.

"You are the honored guests." Lulu replied with a smile. "The men can find somewhere else to sleep. They aren't the best company."

"Lucky us." Sazh responded.

**General POV**

After Lulu, Bartholomew, Zone, and Watts saw off the LCie and NORA in their seperate cars, Lulu lead the ones left behind up a flight of stairs. "Would you like to get comfortable first or get straight to business?" She asked.

"I think it's best if we just start working now." Bartholomew decided. "The more time we have, the more chance we'll find Cosmos completely unharmed."

"Harm is not what we're worried about." Lulu informed the Council leader. "She can handle herself. She has the strongest magic of all time. It's more for this world's protection. Without Cosmos's counter effect magic against Chaos, we'll be swallowed up in it in less than a week."

"Bodhum has already been claimed. It's...too late to save those people." Bartholomew whispered, and Lulu did not respond. She opened two large doors where an enormous library was. Books were in such highshelves, it touched the ceiling. Bartholomew was amazed.

"Zone and Watts." Lulu addressed the pair. "You stated that gathering information is your specialty."

"Yes sir." Watts said with a salute while Zone bowed awkwardly. Bartholomew rolled his eyes.

"Using the materials in this room, could you research on Cosmos and Chaos by tonight. I'm sure there is something in one of these books. Cosmos is often in here, and I've seen a title or two that has things to do with Chaos. I'm not much of a book reader, at least not to this...extreme extent."

"There has to be millions of books in here." Bartholomew pointed out. "You sure he can-"

"Gathering information is my specialty sir." Watts repeated.

"We'll have it by tonight." Zone promised.

"Uh, well, alright then." Bartholomew said. "And what do you need me to do."

"I may have an inkling as to what the Cieth may have come for." Lulu led Bartholomew out of the hallway, and they continued to go upstairs. They walked probably the longest flight of stairs Bartholomew has ever climbed, and he even began to lose his breath.

Lulu then opened the door leading to a very open rooftop. In the center, however was a weird curving contraption in the center of the rooftop. It was easily missed from down below. A red fiery light was ignited within it.

"What is this?" Bartholomew asked.

"I do not know." Lulu said. "I always thought it was the device that gave power. A power source? But ever since Cosmos's disappearance, it's been this red color."

"What did it look like before?" Bartholomew asked.

"Blue." Lulu replied. "It is safe to assume that the colors white and blue associate with Cosmos. While black and red associate with Chaos. And if this...device is red..."

"Chaos is at work here." Bartholomew filled in the blanks.

"Because of the Anti-Chaos barrier over the city, nothing has come out of it. Maybe it helps keep the barrier up. But maybe, just maybe, the cieth are sent by Chaos to possibly destroy this device since Chaos can't. And once its destroyed..."

"The Chaos floods in..."

**Agora**

Lebreau grimaced when Gadot began stuffing his face with the food that was offered in their car. Yuj and Maqui also had their own handfuls, and Lebreau glared in annoyance at the dark skin man next to her for stealing most of the food. Everyone hadn't eaten so well since Cocoon's Fall.

When they arrived at the Agora, a big, muscular, and tan man with red swooping hair opened the car door. "Hey, you must be the L'Cie, ya."

"Actually," Lebreau said, "we're friends with the L'Cie. Team NORA at your service." She bowed in respect.

Yuj and Maqui snickered at Lebreau's politeness like it was a joke and the dark haired woman glared at them. The man laughed, "You guys look like you know your way around a gun. Very well, the more the merrier. I'm Wakka. Lu's husband and the co-leader of this band of mercenaries."

"Hey, weren't you the coach of the Nautilus Abes." Gadot recognized.

"Oh ho ho, gotta a fan with us, ya?" Wakka said proudly.

"So that means you know Tidus." Yuj put the pieces together.

"Yeah. I trained that little beach blonde. He quit blitzball a little after I did. For the same reason. Fell in love...wanted to start a family. Look at where we are now. Tidus and Yuna and little Ainu are in the world down under, and Lu, Vidina, and I are living a life of luxury, getting in too deep. That boy should have come to see me before taking off. I'm gonna have to come visit him one of these days. If the Chaos is defeated." Wakka continued to talk as he walked, leading Team NORA to a small band of volunteers. Some were old, one or two were around NORA's age. One was a girl.

But they were all drunk.

"What's going on?" Wakka asked. "Who brought the booze? We can't fight if we're stumblin' over each other's feet."

"What's the point." One of the teenagers said. "It's not like we're gonna make it. We got to thinkin'. Cosmos must have left us because she knew we were all gonna die and didn't want to be here to witness it."

"Now you're just talkin' crazy. That's the booze cloudin' your minds, ya!" Wakka spat outraged.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Yuj interupted, "what makes you think we're gonna die. We're here. We're here to help you. Help PalumPolum. Help Cosmos. Save Cocoon."

An older man snorted, "yeah, like how your L'Cie buddies caused all this in the first place."

"They saved all of us." Lebreau countered, "and while we had to tough it out on Pulse-infact, everybody else in the world besides the people in PalumPolum and even Eden don't have to deal with hardship. You eat all the food you want, have more than one set of clothes, are always completely clean with your pristine showers, live in a comfortable home, and have technology like cell phones and television and computers. We don't have any of that. But you don't see us rolling on our backs and surrendering to Chaos because we can't handle it. You didn't even pick up a gun yet and you're already swallowing your defeat."

Lebreau then heard an applause behind her, as a tall man with a long brown ponytail, with glasses and a mechanical leg approached her. "Nicely said, ma'am. And here I was about to whip these slackers into shape."

"Ser Nooj!" One of the men said as they all stood up.

"I am Ser Nooj." He reemphasized. "And you already know your co-leader Ser Wakka."

Wakka rubbed his arm slightly bashful. "Eheh. Stop, you're embarrassing me."

Nooj grinned. "And these youthful group here are Team's NORA's Gadot, Lebreau, Yuj, and Maqui."

They glanced up at him in surprise.

"I've heard about you from Lulu. They are here to help train you babies into becoming trained soldiers in nine hours."

"Nine hours!" A girl exclaimed. "We'll be dead-"

"Shut it." Nooj cut her off, and her mouth clamped shut. "We are going to train unrelentlessly until you can shoot down a target without your hands shaking. You can jump over obstacles without your knees quaking. And you can look a Cieth in it's eye and tell it to go to hell. Capiche?"

**Lightning's POV**

"We will defeat the cieth any way we can." We heard a man yell as we got out of the car.

"But, Etro's script says-" A young mousy sounding woman tried to argue but that same man cut her off rudely.

I then saw about five Primarch knights glaring down a small woman in slightly different robes. They were still white and blue, but they looked more like church's robes than mages robes. "Enough!" The man argued making the woman flinch. "Our escorts are here."

"I...I only meant to..." The woman whispered, sounding about ready to cry. I noticed Snow visiby glare at the man and deliberately walk past him to the saddened woman.

"Hey," he reached out to her, as she looked up in surprise, wiping away quickly her tears. "Are you alright?"

"She's fine!" Another knight called back to Snow. "She's just another preachy priestess who's trying to lead us to the way of Etro, yada yada yada."

"But," the woman said, turning around and facing them, "my job is to give out the word of Etro. I'm trying to protect you."

The knights laughed. "Yeah, if words could protect, there would be more priests and teachers in the army. But there isn't." He held up a sword and then spoke very slowly like she couldn't understand him before. "You see this. This is called a _sword_. You need to know how to use one in order to fight."

"Hey," Sazh stood up. "Don't talk like that to her."

"Um, aren't you supposed to be escorting us?" The man began talking down to us.

"No. We're not." I replied. "Not anymore. You can find your own damn way."

He laughed. "That's no way to speak to the Primarch's knights."

"I don't give a damn about you or your Primarch."

The knights chorus in a round of oohs like frat boys at a college party. "Hey!" One of the younger knights pointed out. "She looks like the Primarch's fiance."

The leader scoffed. "No way. The Primarch's fiance is much hotter than this tramp. Am I right?"

I was about to pummel him to a pulp but Hope held me back.

"The Serah chick is pretty cute. I wish she'd sit on _my throne_."

The priestess groaned and covered her ears and I saw Snow's eyes narrow dangerously. "Then," another spoke up, "I'd make her get out of my bed in the morning naked to make me a snadwich-"

Snow and I together jumped the Primarch's men. The priestess tried to get us off each other, and one of the men striked her with his armored elbow, knocking her down, her hood falling off. Sazh threw me aside and he and Hope pulled Snow back as he was practically bludgeoning the leader.

"Let's get the fuck out of here." One of the knights helped the leader to his feet who was crying from getting beat up.

Snow rubbed his fist. And Hope ran to the priestess who was forcing her way back to her feet. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine." she said, her voice sounding nasal. "I think he broke my nose though."

"Here," Hope gave her a few healing spells, "this should lessen the pain, but you will still need to go to a clinic or hospital to get that bandaged."

She stared at us in all. "You are the L'Cie." She said, "Wow...you look so...so oridinary."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Ordinary. Were you expecting knights in shining armor. Because Snow just beat one of them to a pulp."

"I usually don't condone violence, but good riddance. They were a handful. I had only meant to spread Etro's script and help them in their endeavor against the cieth. You don't need it, you are already blessed by Etro. Ooh!" She covered her nose, as it began to swell up.

"Let's take you to a clinic." Snow said, helping her.

"No, just take me to the church. Someone there can help me. And maybe you'd want to pray."

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't very religious. My sister and I used to believe in the Goddess, but our parents never did. And I can see now why. I was the first to let go of my faith in Etro and Serah, though she claims to be an Etro follower, she prays less and less.

I mean look at the mess she made, out of all the strong people in the world, _we_ were chosen? A dumb rebel, an old pilot, a timid teenager, and a bitchy soldier. I even understood why she chose Fang and Vanille.

We arrived at the Church, Etro's symbol on the front of the door. We opened it and I was surprised upon how packed it was. These people were probably worried about the cieth and are just sitting in here, praying.

A man with dark skin and white hair wearing a long jacket similar to the priestess's robes looked at us upon entering. "Shelinda?" The man questioned. "What has happened to her?"

"It's our fault." Snow admitted. "We got into a fight with a group of Primarch knights and when she tried to break it up, one of them hit her in the nose."

The man winced. "You poor dear. Please, let me bandage you up."

"Wait, Baralai," The priestess, Shelinda said, covering her nose and sounding somewhat muffled. "They are L'Cie. Etro's chosen warriors. They came and saved me in my time of need when the knights were bad mouthing me and Etro."

Well that's not exactly what happened...but I let her deluded little mind think that. The man, Baralai, nodded. "Thank you for helping her. Please, anyone is welcome into the church. Feel free to pray."

I had to resist the urge to scoff. So much for that. "Come on, let's go."

"Wait," Hope said, "can we stay for a couple of minutes."

I stared at him in surprise. "You're seriously going to pray?" I asked.

The silver haired teenager looked bashful for a moment, glancing between the three of us. "Yeah, why not. I haven't done so in a long time. My mother used to take me. I think I have alot to pray for. For now and the future."

Sazh sighed, "I guess...I'll pray too."

"Uh...okay." Snow said awkwardly, seeming to not know exactly how to pray. The man probably never prayed before in his life.

So then I silently sat behind the three, Hope and Sazh had their heads bowed in respect while Snow was mimicking them, but was probably just sitting there like I was. I then caught Baralai's eye.

Great...now he's walking toward me. He knelt beside me, and I tried to hide how much he was bothering me. "Are you not a woman of Etro?" He asked politely.

"Honestly...no." I responded, and I could see Hope snapping his head in our direction.

"But...I do not understand..." Baralai said, seeming genuinely confused. "You are Etro's chosen warriors. You are L'Cie. You saved Cocoon. You have magic and Eidolons at hand and...you don't believe in her."

"I didn't ask to become a L'Cie." I said. "I didn't want to be one. Ever since I became a L'Cie, bad things happen. Worse than before I became one."

Baralai bit his lip in contemplation than stood up, walking back to the front of the church. Hope stood up. "I think I'm done." He walked past me quickly.

I figured he was probably disappointed in my answer. But that was my honest opinion. "Hope-"

He then stopped. He spun on his heel. "They're here!" he exclaimed.

"Time to go!" Snow said, exiting the church with Sazh and I.

"Wait," Baralai said as he grabbed a rather large stick weapon, with discs on eighter side of it. He rushed towards the entrance, leaving the church. "Close the door behind you."

"You gonna be alright here by yourself?" Sazh asked.

"I'm just a pope." He admitted.

I reached into my chest and pulled out my red violet flower shaped Eidolith. "Odin." I whispered. Odin arrived at my side and I mounted onto him.

"Amazing..." Baralai sighed as he watched the whole summoning take place.

"Snow, Sazh," I addressed, "you think you can handle this part of the town. I'm sure NORA has the Agora and Bartholomew and Lulu has the palace."

"We're good." Snow said with a thumbs up. Sazh mimicked him.

"Don't get yourselves killed." Sazh warned us.

I smirked, helping Hope onto the back of Odin. "We'll handle the Central Arcades all the way past your house." I explained to my partner.

"Okay." Hope responded, wrapping his arms around my waist so he doesn't fall. Odin stood on his hind legs and neighed before I kicked him in the direction. He blazed through, earning surprised looks by the panicking pedestrians.

**General POV**

Team NORA and the mercenaries had to split their team three ways in order to insure everyone's safety. Gadot stayed with Lebreau in the Agora. Wakka went with Yuj inside the Nutriculture Complex, especially when they heard screams coming out of there from the workers as the Cieth attacked them.

And lastly, Maqui was left with Nooj as they patrolled the entrance of PalumPolum. Where most of the cieth were still trying to get in.

Then back at the palace, while Zone and Watts studied furiously on the secrets and origins of both Chaos and Cosmos. They were seemingly stumped until they came across some interesting information that may lead to not only where Cosmos was...but Chaos as well.

Bartholomew and Lulu saw the impeding cieth attempting to raid the palace. "It is this." Lulu confirmed.

Bartholomew picked up the sniper gun that a mage had set out for him.

"Is your aim good?" Lulu asked, as she loaded up her manadrive.

"I will admit I never held a sniper rifle before." Bartholomew admitted. He aimed for one of the first cieth, the red dot landing right in the eye and fired.


	24. Nightmares

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warning: Violence, Blood & Gore. Implied nudity.**

**AN: Has anybody else been following the Lightning Returns news? I am actually very excited for the game. But I hate how everyone's raging over Lightning's outfits. For those of you angry about "oversexualizing" Lightning, there will be ****thirteen**** standard outfits. But ****eighty**** differnt ways to customize it. An interesting one I would like to put out there for those of you freaking out about how "revealing" some of her outfits are. There are options in most of the outfits where you can put ****pants**** on her. Even her default outfit where she's in a body suit.**

**Sorry, that was just really bugging me.**

**General POV**

Snow pounded his fists as the cieth began to flood into the town. People were running and screaming, or speeding down the roads in their cars. Some were fleeing into nearby shops and locking the door, hoping that the cieth wouldn't break in.

The enviroment was eerily similar to when they first came to PalumPolum as L'Cie and the townspeople reacted this way to them. Sazh pulled out his dual guns, twirling them on his fingers as he whistled and got into his battle stance.

Baralai, swung his large double ended staff letting out a surprisingly loud and warrior like battle cry.

The cieth bounded in their direction and Snow took the first hit, he began to brawl one much larger cieth, chipping bits and pieces off of him as the cieth began to weaken. The cieth raised it's incredibly large arms and swung, knocking Snow against a small cafe, the glass shattering as some college students took refuge there, and fled behind the counter.

Snow sat up from where he landed on the now broken couch as the cieth easily took out some jagged pieces of glass trying to get to Snow. The large sentinel kicked him down and began to beat down on the cieth until his head was nothing more than debris. Snow looked behind him at the college students peering behind the counter and gave them a thumbs up before bounding back into the town to take out more.

"He was kind of hot..." One of the college girls whispered to her friend as she watched Snow leave.

Sazh was quick with a gun. He had merged his dual guns into one big shot gun and was blowing up cieth into rock particles showering over the town. He was keeping count and was already at nine.

"Ten!" Sazh continued to count as he shot down another cieth. He felt something towering behind him and jumped back shooting that cieth _twice_ before it crumbled. "Eleven..." He then noticed Snow running back into the fray, from his hands to his elbows he was covered in white and blue dust while his trenchcoat looked a bit more torn up at the sleeves and his face was cut up. "Trenchcoat, you alright?"

"I'm fine. I took down a guy."

Sazh snorted. "I took down eleven-twelve!" he said the last part as he shot down a cieth.

"Of course you did, you got a big ass shot gun, old man. Watch this." He flexed his muscle while Sazh rolled his eyes with a "hm-hm" as Snow barreled toward another large cieth and his entire hand busted through the center of the eye, coming out on the other end of the cieth.

Snow retracted his hand and the cieth fell back on his leg. Snow then performed Sovereign Fist, jumping up in the air, "Here it comes!" He flew back down with a Wham!

The cieth was history, and even the impact itself chipped nearby cieth as well as blowing Sazh and even Baralai back a bit. Sazh slowly applauded, "Not bad trenchcoat." He pointed toward what was left of the cieth, "Let's finish them off!" He ordered running ahead and shooting cieth down as he did so.

**Agora**

Gadot and Lebreau were back to back against each other while a young man with a rifle and a dark skinned man with a much smaller and notably slower gun were evaluating the cieth. "They are all around." The dark skinned man confirmed.

"I got a little present." The other man said as he held up a hand grenade.

"Dude," Lebreau exclaimed, slightly backing away from him. "Where'd you get that?"

"Stole it off of Nooj. I don't think he'd miss it." The man said cheekily. He bit off the pin and threw the grenade at the cieth that were already coming their way, and at least three of them exploded. Gadot saw the other incoming cieth coming from the sides and began shooting at his left while Lebreau got the right.

Lebreau realized that her gun didn't work too well against these rock hard cieth. And if they stand in the center like this, they were going to flood around them and then they were screwed. That was when Lebreau spotted a hoverbike near the exit.

She grabbed Gadot by his coat. "Come on!" She said. Gadot followed her shooting down more cieth as he did so. He handed Lebreau his shot gun and sat in the front while Lebreau sat in the back.

Once Gadot finally got the bike running, Lebreau reloaded Gadot's gun and began shooting down the cieth that were impeding upon the two mercenaries in the center. Who were in vain trying to shoot down the cieth.

Lebreau shot them all down with ease and soon they were down to none. The dark haired woman hoped that her friends were just as lucky.

**Nutriculture Complex**

Wakka and Yuj along with a pale skinned man in dark clothing and a freakishly tall woman both wielding guns entered the darkened Complex. This was where all the food was being made, and if they don't have that then there will be no way to live here comfortably.

What made Wakka angry was seeing how the cieth were abusing the food supply, hordes of them. Almost like they were looking for something. Their mechanical groans increased as they continued to search futily.

"Hey ugly!" Yuj hollered, shooting down a cieth. It took a couple of bullets too much just to knock the creature down.

"Dammit!" Wakka hollered. "These guns are worthless." He complained.

"It's better than just sittin' on our asses!" Yuj said, jumping over a conveyer belt and continuing to shoot down more cieth, ducking as one swung, knocking over more food. "Aim for the eye!" As soon as he demonstrated the cieth burst.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Wakka laughed as he jumped over a few more conveyer belts and followed Yuj's lead. The other two mercenaries followed suit. The girl was laughing like a madmen as she did so while the man did as Yuj demonstrated in a very serious manner it was almost funny.

**PalumPolum's Entrance**

Nooj was leading Maqui and two much older men towards the entrance of PalumPolum where the airships and some weapons were being held. It would be most dangerous for the cieth to be here because they could malfunction the airships and break their weaponary.

Nooj saw some cieth trying to tip over Sazh's airship. He pulled out his sniper rifle, staying at a safe distance far away from the cieth and then nailed one right in the eye. It burst into debris, filling up the airship and the other cieth began to react.

But they couldn't find Nooj. He gestured for Maqui and the other to do a preemptive strike. They let out a battle cry as Maqui began shooting down more cieth while the older veterans were brawlers using manadrives.

They forcibly removed cieths from out of airships, one of them placed them in a crate as a joke so Maqui could shoot it down, making the whole crate explode.

"Stop fooling around." Nooj quickly lectured. "Barricade it's entrance until Lulu can erect a barrier."

The buff veterans soldiers began pushing some particularly large crates while Maqui helped elminate the ones that already got through and keeping anymore from squeezing through. The veterans piled the crates on top of each other until it was high enough. The cieth couldn't climb. They then laughed and high fived each other.

"Now we wait for Lulu to work her magic and hopefully the others are taking care of the cieth."

**Central Arcades**

Lightning was galloping through PalumPolum on the back of Odin with Hope behind her, helping in taking down incoming cieth with his boomerblade. Lightning had her dual swords, which were much bigger than the silver haired teenager's boomerblade. But it came in handy when he threw the boomerang, able to catch it at a fast speed.

Lightning magic wasn't doing much to take down the cieth. They were more quickly taken down physically than by magic. They were saving citizens from letting cieth invade their homes and Hope was quite happy to have protected those people.

"They're heading towards Cosmos's palace." Hope informed his mentor, "Albeit a longer route."

Lightning kicked Odin on his side, demanding him to go faster. "We gotta keep them from reaching there. I knew there was something there. There has to be a reason."

"Is that all of them?" Hope asked.

"It seems like it...wait...your house." Lightning muttered as she spotted a horde easily wedging inside the empty house. "We have to get them all."

"It won't take along." Hope said as Lightning sped to Felix Heights. Once there, Lightning and Hope hopped off as Odin dismissed and they infiltrated Hope's old home.

It wasn't a long stop, Lightning shot down most of them while Hope stabbed his boomerblade within the eye.

"Let's go." Hope quickly said, speeding out of the house before he could get a good look.

**Cosmos's Palace**

"We found Cosmos's spellbook!" Zone announced happily as he bursted into the roof. Bartholomew was still taking down cieth with a sniper gun.

"Dammit, I think their getting in." Bartholomew muttered, taking off his glasses and wiping the sweat from his brow. The sound of one of the servants's screams answered his question.

Lulu knew there was not much time left. "Give it here." She said almost harshly, trying to hurry before the palace becomes flooded with cieth. She licked her finger and began flipping the pages so quick you wondered if she actually read anything that was flying by her eyes. She paced as she did so, obviously growing anxious.

"Here!" She sighed, dropping the book to the ground and squatting as she mouthed the words written. Her face fell. "That's it?" She questioned. "Zone, I need a pot of ice cold water." She informed him. "Should be in the kitchen."

"Uh...yes ma'am." He muttered, wincing as another stomach cramp assaulted him. He resisted the urge to hunch over. "I'll be right back." He groaned, shuffling towards the door.

Lulu cringed, not sure if she should trust Zone. Bartholomew, reloaded his sniper rifle and continued to struggle in aiming for the eye. But as time passed he was beginning to hit his target less and less and it was beginning to frustrate him.

Zone was running downstairs, his heart racing as he heard servants screaming and dying from the cieth assault. He had only made it so far to the entrance, where the most of the horde was coming in. Some much bigger Cosmos's knights were trying to shut the door, but it was wedged opened by the cieth's crowding.

Zone spun around and saw a dead maid, ripped apart, he promptly vomited all over the floor. "Kitchen..." he muttered. "I need...to find...the kitchen." He began to panick but luckily he did find his way into the kitchen where the chef just got stabbed by a skinnier cieth.

It let out a banshee sounding cry as it made to stab Zone. He dove under the sink, and reached for a kitchen knife that clattered on the ground. He was breathing heavily as he reached for it, just as the cieth rounded the kitchen's counter and Zone stabbed it in the eye.

It reached for the knife but then it began to bleed heavily and Zone felt woozy once more. "A pot...where does Cosmos keep her pots." He opened underneath the sink and practically circled the whole kitchen in anxiousness before finding a cooking pot. He tossed it in the sink and realized it was going to be difficult to fill up the large pot.

He finally found the nozzle, managing to spray on himself before finally stretching it out and throwing it inside the pot. He heard more cieth coming in and ducked and hid underneath the kitchen counter.

The cieth heard the sound of the water in the pot and began to limp towards it. Zone almost groaned in defeat. Until he heard somebody throw a book at it. The cieth turned around and glared at Watts.

"Uh..." Watts said. "Whoops?"

The cieth were about to circle around the kitchen counter to the other Forest Owls member, but then Zone took that same knife, snuck around the counter and stabbed the cieth. Watts then killed the second one using another knife.

Watts staggered back. "Holy shit..." he groaned. "That was crazy."

"Help me carry the pot, man." Zone quickly informed him and turned off the sink. "I hope this is enough."

The sound of a cieth's roar scared the Forest Owls members into sprinting towards the stairs just as a huge horde of cieth were upon them. "Go, go, go," Zone chanted, in a high pitched squeal as they climbed all the way back up back to where Lulu and Bartholomew were on the rooftop.

"Hey, be careful man." Watts warned, "or the water will pour out."

Watts kicked the door open and the two placed the water in front of Lulu. "Here's your water."

Lulu looked down onto it and got on her knees, placing both hands on the sides of the pot and read from the book. She then began muttering a spell in a language that was not theirs, neighter pulsian. Then a pale blue light wave burst around the pot, causing a barrier to erect around PalumPolum. All the cieth disintegrated as a result.

It was over.

**Lightning's POV**

It was nighttime by the time we all made it back to Cosmos's mansion. Lulu was making a public announcement of defeating the cieth. "I have been successful in erecting a barrier over the town. Unfortunately, it came with a cost of some civilian's lives."

Wakka wrapped his large arm around his wife in comfort. "Allow us to bow our heads in silence for the ones we lost, ya." Everyone remained silent as Shelinda gave out a sort of prayer. Once the silence was broken, the cameraman shut off his equipment and the rest of the news casters entered their vans and drove back into town. The rest of us entered the palace, where the servants were cleaning up the mess.

"Now will you tell us what those monsters were after?" Lebreau asked in exasperation.

"According to Cosmos's book." Lulu said as she opened it up, having bookmarked important pages. "It's a Gateway to Cosmos and Chaos's world." She informed us.

"A gateway?" Sazh asked. "Here?"

"I think Chaos had directed all the cieth here knowing that our barrier was not yet up. He took advantage of that window. Now that both Chaos and Cieth barriers are up..."

"You think he might be up to something else." Bartholomew finished. "Is there anything in here on how to close the gate?" He asked.

Lulu didn't answer. "Could one of you fetch Issaru for me. He's one of the popes. Should still be here in the palace, praying for the safety."

"I'll get him." I volunteered.

"I'll go with you." Maqui volunteered.

"Me too." Bartholomew also volunteered.

"Okay, fine." I said.

I went downstairs towards the lobby and a man wearing robes closer to how Shelinda's look was bowing in a silent prayer. "Wait til he's done." Bartholomew whispered to me.

When the pope, Issaru was finished, he stood back up and glanced at us like he knew we were there. "Hello. I am Issaru." he introduced.

"I'm Maqui." The blonde introduced. "And this is Lightning and Bartholomew."

"Pleasure." He continued. "Is there something you need."

"Lulu needs you. Up on the rooftop. I'm assuming it's about the Gate up there." I said.

"A gate...?" he trailed off. "Please, take me there."

So I lead the pope up the flights of stairs until we were on the rooftop. The only ones up there were Sazh and Lebreau as well as Lulu. The gate was glowing a bright red, with a purplish hue to it. Issaru stared at it in amazement. "Hm..." he hummed as he carefully examined it. "It looks like a gate to Valhalla, the world where Etro resides...but it's nothing like how the script explains the light to be."

"Forget about the light." I muttered. "Where does it lead?"

Issaru didn't answer me.

"Is there a way we can get through there?" I continued asking.

"What if Cosmos is in this gate?" Lebreau asked, seeming to come to the conclusion.

"That does seem to be a possibility." Lulu said. "Cosmos spent a great amount of time here. And it became red like this when she disappeared."

"She was kidnapped by Chaos in her own gate?" Sazh asked.

"Damn." Maqui muttered.

I held my hand out and I felt a fluttering in my chest as my brand lit up. Sazh's did as well.

"Chaos is on the other side." I stated.

"Embark tommorrow." Lulu told me. "You've had a long journey. You need to rest."

"We need to stop this Chaos before-"

I was cut off by a pat on the back by Sazh. "Come on, Soldiergirl. I'm tired." He said.

I stared at his exhausted older face. "Fine. We'll stay the night here. First thing in the morning we leave." I ordered.

**Some time later...**

Lulu decided to prepare dinner for us as welcomed guests. But I really wasn't in the mood to eat, even though I was starving. So I asked her to show me to my room. I offered to share one with Lebreau, and the dark haired woman seemed pleased to have me as a roommate.

The room she took me to was the same one as the one I stayed in when I first came to Cocoon. I figured I was going to share the same bed as Lebreau. That didn't bother me. I had to share a bed with Serah alot of times when I was younger.

I decided to take a much needed shower. I took off my coat, turtleneck, stripped off my pants, underwear, and bra. Leaving them on the floor. I stepped into the shower, turning the knozzle all the way up, letting the water massage my back.

It gave me time to mentally prepare for the next mission. We were going to go through a portal. Like in stories to a whole new world. I mean, I've already done with Gran Pulse. But at least I knew Gran Pulse existed.

What was the world Cosmos and Chaos lives in? And why did they come here in the first place. What made Cocoon in particular so special that Chaos would want to take over and Cosmos to battle against him to save it?

Then there was also Serah. She still is not with me. She was in Eden. The only thing I didn't have to feel guilty about is that she's at least comfortable and safe. But we're not there for her. She is held hostage there and there is no way for her to escape. All because I was never there for her to begin with.

It was all my fault. I then heard a knocking on the bathroom door. "Lightning?" I heard Lebreau say as she entered the bathroom. That's when I realized I've been under for too long. My body was pink and raw and my head felt whoozy from all the steam getting to me. "Damn, it's super steamy in here. Are you alive?"

I turned off the shower and she quickly handed me a towel. "Sorry." I mumbled.

She snorted. "No need to be sorry. Since you're out I might as well go in." I wrapped the towel around my body as I stepped out. Lebreau was already pulling down her yellow jeans as I exited the bathroom. I left the door cracked opened as I heard the shower turn on.

My robe as well as Lebreau's were laid out in front of us. I hate them. First of all, they never came with any under garments, whcih made me feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. And just...they're robes. I don't want to walk around in an oversized robe.

I sighed, drying myself off and letting the AC cool my body. I brought the towel to my head and began to dry my scalp, my pink locks tangling up as I did so, but I didn't care. I pulled it off me, my hair probably now frizzy and a mess, as I slipped on the robe over my naked body.

I looked at the dinner that was set by my side of the table. "Did you bring me dinner?" I asked Lebreau.

"Yeah!" Lebreau replied. "I figured you were hungry so I brought some up. I also have a bottle of wine. You see it?"

"Yeah." I answered, reading the wine label on the front. I popped the bottle cap open easily and drank it straight, craving alcohol. Of course, I would have prefered something like vodka...

Vodka...a shiver went up my spine. When was the last time I had vodka? Here and there I came across wine or beer but...what I would give for a taste of it.

My stomach growled in hunger and I helped myself to the meal set out for me. It was chicken with tomatoes and olives. It was made with some soup and rice and I tasted a hint of garlic. I hummed at the burst of flavor in my mouth. I sat on the bed, glancing at the remote, deciding to turn on the television.

The News was on. They continued to talk about how we defeated the cieth in PalumPolum, and they played Lulu's interview once more. More updates on political stuff that I didn't really care about.

But what I noticed was that they didn't talk about Chaos at all. It was like he didn't exist. This must have been the Primarch's doing. Putting people at ease.

Then, a promotion came on about Vayne and Serah's wedding. And I couldn't believe that it was Ruby giving the latest scoop. She was wearing some sort of costume, so I assumed she was getting ready to do a show.

"Serah is a dear friend of mine." Ruby said. "And I am so happy for her that she got Vayne. He's a hunk." She and the reporter laughed.

"Rumor has it that Serah was actually going to marry somebody else." the reporter questioned. "Do you know who it was and why they broke it off."

I face palmed. Right.

"His name was Snow Villiers!" Ruby announced happily. "I'm not gonna lie, he was a major hottie too. Serah gets all the man candies out there doesn't she?" She giggled. "Well, truth be told, Serah and Snow were havin' alot of problems. I mean, they seemed well enough when I came here, but I had a feeling things weren't going to end happily for the two of them. Snow's too...irresponsible for her."

"That's Ruby with the latest scoop." The report concluded and Lebreau whistled.

"Wow." She said, as she dried her hair with the towel standing naked by the bathroom doorway as she silently watched with me. "Thanks, Ruby." She muttered sarcastically.

The door then opened and Shelinda enter, her eyes widening when she saw Lebreau. "Oh my!" She gasped. "I didn't mean to interupt."

"It's alright." Lebreau said. "We're all girls here." She continued, not even bothering to cover herself up.

"Oh...right. I came to retrieve y-your clothes for washing and mending." She said, avoiding eye contact.

"I thought you were a priestess not a servant." I said as Lebreau finally threw on her robe and entered the bathroom.

"I am. But...I was so grateful for your help...that I wanted to help you as much as I can. Including washing and fixing any tears and such..." She stuttered embarassingly as Lebreau handed her the heap of clothes.

"Have a good night." Shelinda said as she awkwardy left the room.

We watched as the awkward priestess shut the door behind her, and Lebreau climbed over me so she was sitting on the right side of the bed and snatched the remote out of my hand. "This is too depressing." Lebreau commented as she began flipping the channel.

I didn't argue, and instead continued to eat my food and share the wine with Lebreau, while she finally settled on a channel with some dumb sitcom playing. Lebreau's comments were more entertaining than the actual show with it's forced humor and obvious recycled laughing noise.

I passed the bottle to Lebreau, "I think only us L'Cies can go through that portal." I informed her.

She didn't seem bothered as she took a gulp. She wiped her mouth when she was done, passing the bottle back to me. "Don't feel bad for me. I feel bad for you. While you're in Etro knows where, The rest of us is gonna be kickin' it here."

I snorted as I took a bite of another piece of chicken. I finished my meal and set the bowl by the bed, mimicking Lebreau and getting underneath the covers. "I'm so not going out there in just my robes." Lebreau commented.

I agreed with her. "I'm turning myself in for the night."

"Good night, Light."

"Night, Lebreau."

_I had a nightmare that night. I had a nightmare that we were in some sort of volcanic area. Everything was smoldering hot, and the ground grumbled everytime lava spurted out of the canyon._

_I had to keep running, just to avoid getting burned. But I couldn't breathe. It was like my lungs were closed up. Everything was fuzzy and moving strangely. My head was swimming. I then saw what looked like Sazh, shaking violently on the ground, grasping at his chest._

_"Sazh!" I tried calling out to him._

_His eyes were wide and unseeing, and he may a weird wheezing sound, his mouth agape. He then stopped moving altogether. I saw what looked like Snow's form melt until he was part of the lava. I screamed._

_And then I came across Hope's lifeless body. Despite the burning lava burning through my pants's knees, I picked Hope up and he hung limply against me, bleeding heavily. "No!" I screamed as a fireball came flying in my direction._

_My dream changed. Perhaps it was a continuation, or maybe just a dream within a dream, I couldn't tell. But Serah was in a room. Everything was white. She was in a white flowy dress and her hair was long and curled. Tears streamed down her eyes, and I realized she was climbing up a windowsill barefoot._

_"Serah don't!" I cried, running towards her._

_She closed her eyes and let herself fall, disappearing. "No!" I screamed, jumping after her._

I sat up, breathing heavily as I woke up from the disturbing dreams. I panicked when I realized I couldn't breathe and blamed the damn robes for making me sleep in the sweltering heat. I threw the blankets off me and felt my way in the dark, only using the moon's light to guide me.

Yes, my clothes were ready. I ripped the robe off from from my head and pulled my battle clothes back on. Well...I decided to keep my pants and shirt off as I cooled down. I entered the bathroom, flicking the light on and washed my face in cold water.

It gave me some time to think. I forgot about my dream as soon as I thought about it. When I finished recollecting my thoughts I turned off the light in the bathroom and realized Lebreau wasn't in bed.

I quickly threw my pants on as well as my turtleneck, unzipping it so I could breathe easy and exited the bedroom. I spotted Lebreau, still in her robe, speaking outside Gadot's room. They were in a deep conversation, but I heard Lebreau laugh out loud a couple of times.

The two then hugged and she began heading back to our room. I went back and sat on the bed waiting for her. She entered shortly after. "Hey, you're up. At like three in the morning."

"Can't sleep." I answered, "our clothes are here. Must have delivered them while we were sleeping."

"Sweet." Lebreau said, "Get it off me!" She raised her arms out wide like a child and I snorted, standing up and yanking the fabric off her body. She dressed in her underwear and button up shirt. "I think I'm just gonna sleep like this, if that's fine with you."

"I don't care." I replied, taking my clothes back up and climbing into the bed with her.

"So why can't you sleep?" Lebreau asking, the right side of her head on the pillow as she was turned directly in front of me.

I staring at the ceiling, avoiding her gaze. "Nightmares."

"Oh...sorry, man." She said. I heard her turn so she was also facing the ceiling. "When I was real little, back at the orphanage...I used to have problems sleeping too. I used to sneak out of the girl's room and meet Gadot in the hallway. We'd try not to get caught but sometimes we do. Sometimes Snow comes with us. But he usually prefered sleeping."

I chuckled at the image of a young Gadot, Lebreau, and Snow causing mischief.

"You like Snow, now?" She asked.

I didn't answer at first, as I thought of a good answer. "I guess so. Let's just say, as the days go by, I see him less as a complete idiot, and more as...a brother..."

Lebreau giggled. "Snow's just a likeable guy. No wonder your sister fell for him. She's lucky. Snow will do anything for her. Literally."

"Yeah...he would. And...I guess that's why a part of me still hates him." I admitted, placing my arms behind my head. Lebreau sat up, propping the pillow so she was sitting up, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Because he's perfect for Serah?" She questioned.

"Yeah..." I replied. "I know it's weird. But...whenever I'm with Serah...I forget about the world. Because she's my whole world. She makes me feel good about myself, makes me feel loved and needed. She makes me smile. But...it seems ever since Snow came into her life, only he can make her do the same. It's like she loves Snow more than she loves me."

"That's not true, Lightning." Lebreau tried to reassure me, leaning over. "She's your sister. And she's just in that 'honeymoon' phase. She'll get over it."

"I don't know." I muttered. "I just wished, when I talk to Serah...that this feeling stays with me. Like...for a window of time, I'm...Claire...and she's my baby sister. Then it's like the clock strikes midnight and Serah's back to being Snow's lover while I'm just...Lightning."

"You are such a downer." Lebreau commented. "Serah's not going to be a baby forever. She's growing up. It's a good thing she doesn't need you anymore. Now you can focus on your own life."

"What kind of life can _I_ have. It's always been about Serah, and it always will."

"I didn't say leave her in the dust. I mean, you say there's a window of time she actually lets you spend time with her. Well, why not take the rest of the time to focus on your L'Cie adventures, and...well..._your life_, Lightning."

"Hm..."

"I'll just let you ponder that for a moment. Good night." Lebreau said, taking up most of the covers. I didn't fight her for it. It was still much too hot. So I just kept thinking on what I could do without Serah, until I fell asleep.

The next morning, I took another shower after Lebreau, and dressed in my clothes. I went downstairs and everyone was eating breakfast, talking animatedly. "Hey, Soldiergirl, Butterfly," Sazh greeted us. "We didn't see you all night."

"Sorry," Lebreau said taking a seat in between Gadot and Snow, "We were tired."

"Well, I hope you ladies slept well, because today's the day." Bartholomew explained.

Then a group of the Primarch's knights entered the dining hall. It was the same ones that Snow beat up the other day. "Oh, it's the L'Cie."

"Yes...it's us." Hope stated unamused. "What are they doing here?"

"They are here to give us information on the gate." Watts informed us.

"And where did they get this information?" I asked.

Another knight spoke up, "A researcher in Eden spoke about Gateways to an unknown world unlike Cocoon or even Pulse. He's never been...in fact we think he's crazy. He's been locked for murder and had escaped...twice."

"Okay..." Yuj said awkwardly. "That's nice. Keep talking."

"Before we locked him up for the third time, we took this from his house." That same knight reached into his armor and took out a dingy piece of paper and unfolded it. Hope and Gadot moved aside their plates as he showed us a map.

"Is this what's supposed to be inside of that gateway?" Maqui asked, putting the goggles over his eyes.

"But wait, I thought he never been." Hope pointed out.

"He hasn't. This is based on the books like the ones Watts found. There are several copies like this in those fancy libraries like the ones in Eden."

"So he drew it based on what he read?" Snow asked. "What use is that?"

"So while we're supposed to be on a mission to rescue Cosmos," Sazh began, "and hopefully get to the bottom of this Chaos, we're supposed to be playing this puzzle game?"

"I mean, we can still bring the map, just in case." Hope said, "I mean, i-it can't hurt."

"Fine." I said, "we'll take the map with us. Give it here." I took the map and placed it carefully in my pocket. "You can leave now." I said.

The knights snorted, "After all we did for you, you're not even going to invite us to breakfast."

"Number one, I don't have the right to. This isn't my house." I explained. "And number two, you brought me a dingy handdrawn map from a psycho killer who escaped confinement twice that may not even have anything to do with the location we're going."

"Bye bye." Sazh waved, taking a bite of an english muffin with jam.

The knights left like depressed bratty teenagers and I rolled my eyes as I took a seat beside Hope and crossed my arms and legs. Lulu then entered. "How did everyone sleep?"

"We slept great. Thank you for letting us stay here." Snow said.

"You are most welcome. You are enjoyable guests. Cosmos would have loved this. Are the knights..." Lulu trailed off.

"No, they just left." Lebreau told her.

"Oh, good." She pulled off her manadrive she had hidden underneath her sleeve and set it down on the table. "I have packed some supplies."

Most everyone got up from the dining room and followed Lulu out. I decided to eat my breakfast plate I had set out for me. Hope didn't leave, probably wanted to keep me company. "Did you already eat?" I asked him.

"Uh, yeah." He answered. "But it's alright. I don't mind staying. Unless you want me to go." Hope stuttered.

I rolled me eyes, smearing strawberry jam on his cheek. He gasped in surrpise then laughed, wiping the jam off his cheek and licking it off his finger. "You really think we're gonna find Cosmos in the gate?" He asked.

"Who knows." I muttered. "Whenever we think we're on to something, the rug is snatched from beneath our feet. And then we go on another wild goose chase."

I took a bite out of my eggs.

"I mean," I continued, swallowing the food in my mouth, "we can never just get to point A to point B."

"But if we didn't have obstacles...then we wouldn't have an adventure." Hope pointed out, drinking a glass of orange juice.

"I didn't say for nothing to happen. I just wished we didn't do stupid things." I informed him.

He laughed a bit at that. "I wonder what everyone else will be doing while we're gone?" He asked.

"Probably hang out here." I said. "Or...Yuj might go shopping."

"Dad said he's going to check out our house." Hope said, not looking at me. "He wants to see if we still have a claim to it."

"I'm sure he does." I told him. "I mean, I don't think PSICOM stripped that away from him. Doesn't hurt to check. You want to go take a look before we go."

Hope glanced up at me. "Uh...no that's okay...I'd rather not." He then quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, I think we should go. We're probably getting ready to leave now, the others are probably waiting."

I finished the last bite of eggs and took a few gulps of orange juice before I followed Hope out of the dining hall and up the stairs. NORA, Zone, Watts, and Bartholomew were waiting outside. "Wanted to see you off." Gadot said.

Bartholomew pulled Hope into a fatherly embrace. "Be careful, okay son?"

"I'll be fine dad, I promise." He said, patting his back as his father pulled away from him. He glanced at me then shook my hand.

We entered the rooftop where Lulu was standing behind the gateway with an opened book over an open flame. Snow and Sazh were looking over bags, handing Hope and I our own. We had our own food, water, my bag had certain women toiletries just in case.

It was lightly packed, but it was still efficent for the journey ahead. I didn't think we were going to be gone long. "Okay," Snow gave a pep talk, "everybody okay? Everybody ready."

"I've been ready since I first got on the airship." Sazh said, checking his guns for ammo. "I know Soldiergirl is ready. She always ready. What about you kid, you think you're gonna be alright."

"I'll be just fine." Hope said confidently. "Let's just get in, find Cosmos, and get out. I don't even want to look for Chaos just yet."

"Why not?" Snow asked.

"I just think we have already too many loose ends to tie. Like...I really think as soon as we save Cosmos, we go after that damn Primarch and save Serah. Get her out of there. Get her home."

"We can't..." I quickly explained, "The Chaos could take over by the time we save her."

"Well then," Hope continued, "if it feels like Chaos is sending us on another goose chase...especially at this point...that can't be a good sign. We just pull back, and then move our focus to the Primarch."

The three of us exchanged a look. "Sounds good." Sazh agreed.

"Alright, Hope, we like your plan." Snow complimented and Hope smiled, glancing at me.

I ruffled his hair with a smile. "Okay, we're ready whenever you are, Lulu."

Lulu closed her eyes and whispered a spell and the four of us took a step back before something happens. We double checked our supplies, not knowing if there was another way back. This could possibly be the waning of our journey.

Lulu then slammed her hand down, her robe's sleeve flying as she did so and the fire lit up and the gateway turned brighter. My brand began to glow in response as well as my allies. "It's opened." Lulu said.

Snow bravely approached the gateway first and his arm began to fade away, along with his coat. He laughed nervously, "Oh Etro, I hope we make it through here." He muttered trying to keep his cool as his clothes disappeared first. He wasn't completely naked, it looked more like a form. Blue layering was coating over his body, covering him of showing any sort of skin.

Sazh followed after him as we all begin to slowly fade away. "This is some trippy shit right here." Sazh commented and even Lulu chuckled a bit at our reactions to the magic."

I felt Hope slip his hand into mine, probably feeling frightened and needing my comfort. I squeezed his hand in reassurance as the gateway finally accepted our bodies.

Everything was moving fast. Rapidly. Black and white were the colors that flashed before my eyes. Sparks of red also flashed. My head was spinning and a felt weightless. I then heard the sound of Chaos's laugh and felt my body catch on fire,

I wanted to scream but for some reason I couldn't. I opened my eyes with a gasp and black swallowed me up.

I then felt heavy, and my mind go blank, and something burn the side of my cheek slightly. My body felt hot, and...then I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was a tower, a ways from here. Across rocky hills and mountains. We were on an island. An island made out of complete rock, while the ocean was lava. Snow and Sazh were knocked unconcious a few feet away from me, while Hope was on my back, his hand still tightly holding mine.

I sat up, pulling him into my arms and tried shaking him awake. The Gateway was off, so there was no turning back. "Hope." I whispered, shaking him once more and he whimpered, opening his eyes.

He glanced up at me first, then looked around him in confusion. "Are we there yet?"

"Close...I think." I guessed. I stood up and approached Snow, nudging him with my foot. Hope was waking Sazh up who snorted.

"I'm up, I'm up." Sazh muttered as he sat up from the ground.

Snow grumbled Serah's name and I kicked him harder in the stomach making him grunt. "Oof!"

He sat up as well, popping his back. Sazh looked around him, taking off his coat and wrapping it around his waist and rolled his long button up's sleeves. Hope and I mimicked him with our jackets and Snow followed suit.

It was fiery and felt boiling hot. I reached into my bag and drunk a gulp of water, my throat having fet dry.

Sazh did the same thing though he was more dramatic about it by gasping after he took his drink. "Uh! Oh goodness! Whoo! It's hot!" He complained.

Hope wiped his brow. "That's our destination." he pointed towards the tower that I had first noticed when I woke up here. "It looks like Chaos resides there."

"Our Goddess may be held hostage there." Snow added. "Like a princess locked in a tower."

"That's one way to put it." Sazh pointed out, putting away the water bottle.

"Well, we're not gettin' anywhere by standing around complain about the inhuman heat and where Cosmos might be. We just have to go see ourselves." I explained. I reached into my chest and pulled out the heart shaped crystal.

If we're gonna get there in time, we're gonna need fast transportation.


	25. The Edge to Madness

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warnings: Violence, Blood & Gore.**

**General POV**

**PalumPolum**

Bartholomew gasped. "What? No!" The gateway that his son just passed through shut off, now just an eccentric statue. "The Gate! Why did it close? Lulu, why did it close?"

Lulu was also in a panick when she witnessed the Gateway shut down within itself. "I-I do not know. Is this supposed to happen?" She asked herself fipping the pages.

"Maybe it turns back on when they complete their objective, sir?" Watts said.

"But what if they don't!" Bartholomew continued, his eyes wide in hysteria. "Another! There has to be another gateway. Another way for them to get out.

Lulu groaned. "They took that map." She shut her eyes tight as she tried to remember what the handdrawn map looked like. "Maybe...it's parallel. Like an alternate universe. Uh..." Her eyes snapped opened and her voice tightened. "Eden...we should check Eden for another Gate."

"But what if this gate reopens?" Zone asked.

"Where is team NORA?" Lulu asked, handing the book to Bartholomew and scurrying off the rooftop and down the stairs. She found the four lounging in the lounge. "NORA. I apologize for interupting your day off, but something has come up."

"What's going on?" Gadot asked, sitting up from the couch.

"The Gateway...has been closed." Lulu explained. "It's possible that the L'Cie are trapped within."

"What?" Gadot jumped up angrily. "You mean the boss can never come back?"

"I didn't say that. But...it's possible that there may be another Gateway in Eden."

"And you want us to go a check, right?" Maqui figured out.

"No problem." Yuj said. "Let's go, the Boss is in trouble."

**Lightning's POV**

**Edge of Madness**

We were in hell. That was exactly where we were. We have been traveling for hours on foot, the blistering heat making our skin raw and our breathing labored. We tried to drink a sip every thirty minutes. Of course for Snow that's a gulp. And a gulp to Snow is two gulps for any normal human being. Sazh was already offering up his bottle to the much larger man, since we would possibly need his strength. But we may still be needing Sazh's aim.

We've encounter beasts through the journey in this hell, beasts that resembled behemoths but deadlier and more demonic looking. They were also stronger. Or that could have been our weakening.

We weren't the first people to get trapped here it seemed. We've come across human skeleton bones, sitting in heaps nearby the edge of this 'island'. It seemed that they attempted to escape the island by foot, but the lava got hold of them first, burning off their flesh.

Sazh kicked it and a single bone fell into the sea of lava, melting on impact. "Whoo." He sighed. "Okay, everybody step back from the lava, or you'll melt."

"Are we there yet?" Hope asked. He then stopped, like he heard something.

"What is it?" I asked him.

He cocked his head to the side trying to listen out for something, it almost reminded me of a puppy. "Chanting...A bunch of people..."

He sprinted off ahead of us. "Hey, kid!" Sazh called out to the silver haired teenager.

"Come on." Snow quickly said, nudging my shoulder and stomping after Hope.

**General POV**

**Eden**

NORA took Cosmos's train to Eden. It was a fairly short several hour trip there. Lulu had come to the conclusion that perhaps the Gateway would be in Orphan's Cradle. If they were to go by the map. Chaos's throne would be there in the alternate universe. The Narthex was connected to Eden Hall...where the Primarch is...along with Serah.

So NORA snuck on Primarch knight armor just so they can sneak inside the Hall without the Primarch or some of his men noticing. Though, from the looks of things, they might be able to sneak in since a large crowd of paparazzi and fans were lined up outside the Hall.

Apparently, the Primarch is something of an idol...and a hearthrob. Lebreau snickered at some of the young women who were holding up signs like 'I love Vayne Solidor!'

"Hey, this way." Yuj said, pointing towards the opposite entrance. The rest of NORA followed Yuj's lead into the mansion. They managed to go by unnoticed, nobody recognized their faces. Though lebreau worried that Yuj's striking blue hair might give them away.

"Larsa," one of the knights addressed a teenage boy who looked mostly similar to Vayne. "Your brother wants you to check up on his fiance'. He said that she has become more quiet than usual and wants to know if she's well."

"I'll be on my way." Larsa said, spinning on his heel and heading towards a flight of stairs.

"Maqui, follow him." Gadot whispered to the youngest NORA member.

"Why me?"

"Cause your smaller. Don't get caught."

Maqui whimpered as he tried to follow the Primarch's younger brother up the flight of stairs, without getting noticed. But Larsa had long before noticed NORA's prescence. When he got to Serah's floor, he stopped. "I know you're following me." he said.

Maqui almost swore and was about to flee back down the stairs.

"It's alright." Larsa said. "I won't tell on you. But I want you to show yourself."

Maqui let out an uneasy sigh, realizing he has been holding his breath the entire time. He climbed up the steps and stood before Larsa.

Larsa smiled. "What is your name?"

Maqui didn't answer.

"I understand." The young man said, "you don't have to tell me. Just follow me." He began walking down the hall and Maqui stared at him, mutely. Larsa stopped walking when he realized the blonde wasn't following him. He looked back at him expectantly, and Maqui followed him. The two ended up in front of a door and Larsa knocked politely.

"Come in!" Serah said from behind the door, her voice thick with sadness. She sounded like she had obviously been crying. Maqui glanced at Larsa in surprise that he knew that he knew Serah, and he opened the door.

Maqui followed Larsa in and the blonde saw Serah coming out from the bathroom, trying to hide her tears. Despite how miserable she looked, she still looked beautiful and Maqui almost couldn't breathe. Serah's eyes widened and she ran to Maqui pulling him into a tight hug. "Maqui!"

Maqui froze and his heart hammered as Serah kissed the side of his face in happiness. She pulled away staring down at him. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Larsa smiled. "He came to take you home."

Both he and Serah glanced at Larsa in surprise. "But..." Serah said, "Where's Snow?"

"Uh..." Maqui trailed off..."kind of a long story."

Team NORA then suddenly ran past the room but it was Yuj who glanced over and saw Maqui and Serah. He beacktracked, craning his neck. "They're in here!" he called down to Gadot and Lebreau who had ran ahead.

The sound of clanking metal from the armor announced Gadot and Lebreau arrival. "Hey, Serah!" Gadot said pulling the girl into a hug. Serah began to cry tears of joy that somebody had come to save ehr and kissed gadot's cheek and let Lebreau and Yuj get in on the group hug.

"Follow me." Larsa said. "I know another way out."

"Wait," Lebreau said, "do you know anything about a gate? To another realm." She said.

Larsa's eyes widened, "how do you know about that. Wait...that explains why the L'Cie aren't with you."

"What gate?" Serah asked. "Where's Snow?"

"I'll take you there." Larsa promised. "But you need to get Serah to safety."

"Oh Larsa..." A mousy sounding man's voice cooed as the sound of the sword stuck the side of the door. Serah jumped, running into Gadot's arms. It was Ser Joxe, Vayne's right hand man who kidnapped Serah. "I knew that you would betray your own brother."

"Vayne had no right to steal Lady Serah from her home." Larsa argued, standing protectively in front of Serah.

"You and I both know that Vayne will say otherwise." He shoved Larsa out the way, walking towards NORA. Larsa yanked the sword out of the wall and attacked Joxe.

"Come on." Yuj told the others, grabbing Serah's hand and making a run for it.

**Lightning's POV**

**Edge of Madness**

We then came across the edge of a mountain, and Hope was already knelting behind it, looking overhead. We followed his movements, crawling beside him to get a better view. There were beasts, standing on hindlegs as well as people dressed in strange clothing.

In the middle was a lightly tanned skinned man with short blonde hair, who was shirtless and barefoot, only wearing battle pants. It looked like the man was held prisoner and the people of Chaos were performing some sort of sacrifice.

"Are you loyal to Chaos?" One man asked, his black beard long and curled, wearing rags and holding up a black sword.

"No." The prisoner said confidently and boldly. He was eighter very loyal and brave, or a complete fool. "I serve only my Primarch."

"We have to save him." Hope whispered.

"We can't." I snapped back.

"Why not?" Snow asked and Sazh stared at me quizzingly.

"Are you forgetting what we have come here for?" I asked my group. "We're here for Cosmos. And Chaos. That's it."

"He might know something, Soldiergirl." Sazh said.

Just then we heard the sound of cracking from our weight. "Right." I groaned.

We then fell with a scream, smack dab in the middle of the whole fucking sacrifice. Just perfect.

"L'cie." The leader of the sacrifice said, staring us down in psychotic glee. "The L'Cie are here!"

One of the beasts took the Primarch knight prisoner and tossed him aside as a better sacrifice option was opened to them. I drew my gunblade and slit the leader's neck first. Then I swung my arm over my head and chopped the top of a beast's head, verticaly.

Another beast was about to stab his sword into my chest and Snow knocked the sword out of it's hands. "Just try that on me." He provoked. Snow unbeliavably was able to block the move with his arm, only letting the sharp weapon tear the surface of his skin, little beads of blood popping out. "Steelguard!" he summoned.

I felt myself getting buffed up, as Sazh casted Bravery, Vigilance, and Faith on all of us. He did it in seconds flat, still able to shoot down beasts with his other hand as they came his way.

I was knocked down by a beast, hitting my head against the hard ground, feeling wetness on the back of my head from the blood. Hope quickly send me healing magic, running in my direction just as at least two of the men with swords came to finished me off. Hope tripped one of them, and stabbed another through the throat.

I jumped back to my feet and shot down the man Hope tricked in the head. Soon, all off Chaos's people were easily dispatched, leaving a crippled knight safe from harm. Hope approached the man's leg, having had it crushed by the behemoth looking creatures to keep him from running away.

"I am Ser Gabranth." He introduced, bowing his head despite laying futily on the ground. "I am indebted to you for saving my life."

"We weren't trying to save your life. Trust me." I told him. It was all an accident.

But Sazh hit the back of my hair, making it swing. It reminded me slightly on how Squall used to do it to Rinoa whenever she said something rude. "Don't mind her." Sazh reassured the man. "You are most welcome. Here, let us help you up."

Sazh got on the other side of Gabranth and on the count of three, Hope and him helped the knight to a standing position. "Is it true what the man said. Are you L'Cie?"

"Yeah." Snow answered. "But that didn't change the fact we just saved your life."

"I am aware." Gabranth confirmed. "But that means you had a reason for coming here. You are here to defeat Chaos. If that's the case, I'm sorry to say that that will be impossible here."

"Don't tell me he's not here." Snow whined.

"Oh, he's here." Gabranth confirmed. "In fact, he sitting up in that tower, on his throne, waiting for you to come for him. But I must warn you, he is very powerful here, for this is his realm. If you want to defeat him...he must come to our realm."

"But if he comes to Cocoon," I said, "he'll destroy it." I pointed out.

"Maybe." Gabranth said, "But that is where he is weakest. He must go there himself."

"Let's go." Sazh took the initiative, and switched places with Snow, Hope slowly let go of Gabranth, trusting Snow to be able to hold Gabranth up on his own. "It's around this big ass volcano from the looks of it."

"Uh, Sazh...the volcano is the _tower_..." Snow pointed out.

To be honest I didn't even notice until Snow pointed it out. It was like the tower was hidden within it. So with Snow carrying Ser Gabranth, now on his back, with Sazh in the front, Hope on the back left and me standing on the back right we continued our long trek. Sazh finished the last of his water bottle, having been sharing with both Snow and the injured Gabranth.

Hope pulled out his boomerblade and Sazh and I mimicked his motion when we saw something with wicked wings fly over our head and land right in front of us. I was about to shoot at it when Hope lowered my hand.

"Stop, we know him."

"It's Valentine." Sazh said.

"What happened to him?" Snow asked.

Gabranth groaned, having fallen into unconciousness.

"Lower your weapons." The beast that Sazh claimed was Vincent Valentine spoke. His voice didn't sound any different, but it could be a trick played by Chaos. I kept my gun raised, ignoring Hope. Sazh also kept his guns aimed at him. "I understand that you can't trust me. I don't even trust myself. After the sins I've committed."

"You think you've become this because you're a sinner." Hope concluded, trying to slowly approach him. I grabbed the back of his shirt quickly.

"You don't know what I am. I came to warn you. Heed it how you want. I won't stop you. However...I will recommend...you allow Chaos to come to Cocoon."

"What!?" Snow exclaimed almost dropping Gabranth.

"Like hell we are!" Sazh yelled. "I knew you were up to something."

"Like I've said, I am not with Chaos. Not by choice. You could be the ones who defeats Chaos. But it cannot be here."

"Step aside, Valentine." Sazh warned, keeping his guns up. "We decide our fates."

Vincent didn't move at first, didn't say a word. But abruptly he fleew back up and dissapeared into the horizon. Leaving us to make a decision. "Would everyone get angry if I said I'm for the plan." Hope said.

"Yes. I would." I admitted.

He spun on his heel to face me. "Why?" He whined.

"Hope, I am not going to help unleash the Chaos into the world where Serah is."

"And Dajh." Sazh added.

"And your dad." Snow put his two cents in.

"But, Gabranth said-"

"The man is delirious with fever." Sazh tried to put reason into Hope. "Nothin' comin' outta his mouth is sane, kid. He probably got brainwashed."

"What if he's a spy?" Snow asked.

"Come on!" Hope complained. "Really!? You sound paranoid. All I know is that we have to defeat this Chaos and rescue Cosmos. And if it means we need to get him out of his comfort zone than I think it's our best shot."

I didn't answer him. Instead I entered the tower.

And sitting on his throne was Chaos. Snow set down Gabranth against the wall as we approached our enemy in confidence. "L'Cie..." Chaos said after we stood before him. "I am honered that you've come _all_ this way just to see me."

"We're not here for you." I told him. "We're here for Cosmos."

"The Goddess of Harmony?" He asked like it was a joke. "What makes you think I have her?"

"Where else she disappeared to?" I continued to interrogate. "And if she isn't here, how come the gateway in _her_ palace leads here? When it was originally supposed to lead her to her own realm."

"Maybe, she came to see me personally." Chaos answered.

"Why? Why would she leave us behind to see you?"

Chaos then bellowed in laughter. "Like how you and the Sentinel left your dear sister in Eden to see me?"

I couldn't keep the surprise off my face, and I knew Snow also looked shocked at Chaos's words.

"The poor girls was just waiting for one of you to save her. Crying herself to sleep every night. Falling deeper and deeper until she is practically drowning in her tears. It had to take your little rebl buddies to get her out."

"NORA has her?" Snow asked.

"It's probably a trick." Sazh told him.

Chaos then waved his arms up and showed us what looked like the Narthex. NORA was running down the hallways in Primarch's armor, Serah in tow. "Serah!" Snow cried, arms wide as my little sister ran past her. "...Serah..." He reached his arm off as he watched her get dragged along by Yuj.

"They went this way!" A knight said, racing down the hall and I saw Joxe leading a band of knights down the Narthex, swords drawn as well as gun.

"No!" Snow cried as the picture around us disappeared. While we were watching, Chaos had climbed down his throne and was circling around us.

"Why did they do it?" I asked. "We were supposed to be the ones to save her. I was." I said.

"But you weren't." Chaos continued to tease. "And Serah knows it too."

Snow gasped, stepping back like he was hit in the stomach.

"And you aren't the only one who wasn't there for your so called 'loved one'. Poor little Dajh has lost his sight. Which means he can no longer see. This is the hardest part of his young life that never could of happened if you had been there for him in the first place."

Sazh's eyes widened, and he looked pale, like he was going to be sick. Hope spoke up on Sazh's behalf. "What happened to Dajh wasn't his fault! It was you! You're the one that took his sight away!"

Sazh then screamed, covering his head.

"What are you doing to him!" I screamed, trying to console my friend.

"Do you see what you have done to your son..." Chaos continued.

"He's showing him what happened!" Snow guessed and Sazh began to sob.

"Stop!" I hollered.

"You sick bastard!" Hope screamed, "Stop this! This isn't Sazh's fault!"

"Is that what you tell yourself, child." Chaos was not finished. "After what has happened to your mother..."

"Wha-..." Hope tried to fight against Chaos's words. "My mother did not die because of me. That was the Sanctum's fault."

"But you let your selfishness get the better of you." Chaos said. "You were glad your father didn't come with you to Bodhum. 'Come on mom'," Chaos mimicked what I assumed was Hope's words, " 'Let's stay one more day...' "

"Where's Cosmos!" I cut him off. "Where is she now!"

Chaos shrugged. "Finders Keepers, L'Cie!" He then disappeared in black smoke.

"Dammit! He got away!" I yelled. I turned around and all my allies were lost in thought. Sazh's mindfuck was finished, Snow was still in shock, and Hope just looked pissed beyond belief like I've never seen him.

"Sazh?" Snow asked distractedly as Hope decided to help the dark skinned man up. "You alright?"

He didn't look at us. He just shook his head.

"We gotta go look for Cosmos now." Hope explained to him. He glanced at me and I decided we had to keep moving. Ready or not.

We had to leave Gabranth at the entrance. Luckily, Snow and Hope were too shaken up by our encounter to argue. When we found the flight of stairs I saw a cloud of darkness fly overhead. He was watching us.

**General POV**

**Eden**

Upon receiving a distress call from Bartholomeew on all that has happened up to now. Rygdea had informed Amodar and the two of them set off to Eden, leaving Terra and Squall to take over their spots in the Council with Morrigan and Laguna.

When they arrived, Amodar went on ahead to EdenHall to see to the Primarch, while Rygdea decided to pay somebody dear to him a visit.

He found the theater and ran into Harry, having just come from school and was doing his homework in the audience area. It was rehearsal time so there was no other audience members besides the director, a few crew members, and maybe an actor or two.

Harry set his homework down in his seat and jumped up as Rygdea picked him up and gave him a big hug like he weighed nothing. "What are you doing here, Rygdea?" He asked.

"I came to see you of course. I missed you guys like crazy." Rygdea admitted, embracing him like a father would his son. "Where's your mother?"

"She's rehearsing." Harry informed him. "Her cue is _just_ about to come up."

And she did, Ruby came onto the stage, in her eccentric costume and strange accent that was to go with her character and made her entrance. Rygdea assumed she was playing some sort of villain by her ominous demeanor and definitely the character's motive.

But when she glanced into the audience and saw her son was missing, she glanced up and her eyes caught Rygdea's. "Rygy!" She gasped, leaping off the stage and Rygdea set Harry down so he wouldn't get hurt from Ruby's excitement.

She jumped, wrapping her legs around Rygdea's waist and kissed him heavily on the mouth, making her ten year old son roll his eyes and gag. But he did seem happy to see his mother happy. She pulled away from Rygdea and hopped down. "What are you doin' here? Nevermind, doesn't matter. I missed you so much!"

"Miss Ruby," Baku, her boss approached the family as he stomped off the stage with a heartwarmed smile. "Why don't you take a break this afternoon and catch up. You've been doing exceptionally well."

"Oh, thank you, Baku!" Ruby exclaimed in excitement and utter happiness skipping over and kissing his bearded cheek. She grabbed her son's hand and raced out of the theatre house, a laughing Rygdea following after her towards her car (with her very own driver, he noted)

"Where are we goin' doll?" Rygdea asked as Ruby practically threw Harry into the car.

"We're goin' to eat. My treat! Ah!" She squealed, brimming with happiness. This was a lovely surprise. "I know this great barbeque place!"

"Barbeque?" Rygdea laughed, eyeing Ruby's costume. Don't you wanna change out of that get up first? Freshen up a bit?"

"No way! I'm way to excited. We gotta go now! And then we can go back to my place and you can see our apartment-" She yanked onto Rygdea's arm and pulled him into the backseat, almost squishing a laughing Harry. "And then...before my show...we'll have a little...romantic one on one time."

"Gross, mom." Harry whined, and Rygdea let out a chuckle, ruffling the ten year old's dark hair.

NORA as well as Serah had finally made it to Orphan's Cradle. "There it is!" Maqui pointed out the gate, glowing a bright blue.

"Snow's in there?" Serah asked, but for some reason her knees were beginning to buckle and she was leaning heavily against the wall, eyes glazed over and breathing heavily.

Lebreau noticed this and approached the younger woman. "Hey, you okay?" She asked, brushing aside her bangs that had loosened out of her pin up. Serah then turned around and threw up. "Oh! Whoa!" She began patting her back. "What's wrong?"

Serah continued to vomit, sinking to her knees. When she was done she gagged, pushing herself away from her vomit, blushing red. "That is so embarassing?" Her eyes were brimming with tears.

"You alright?" Gadot asked as Maqui and Yuj busied themselves by examining and studying the gate.

Serah looked up, her cheeks flushed and sweating making her bangs and strands of hand stick to her face. She wiped it off in disgust then mumbled something inaudible to their ears. "Come again?" Lebreau said.

"I-I'm pregnant!"

Clank! Clang!

Maqui had spun around too quick and fell clumsily on the floor, his armor promptly breaking. Yuj shrugged and decided that they didn't need their armor and began to strip it off himself too, having reacted nochalantly to Serah's news. "What!?" Maqui exclaimed.

"Your preggers!?" Lebreau exclaimed, first she was in shock then her she smiled brightly and pulled her into a hug! "That's great news! Snow's going to be a daddy...it is Snow's right?"

Serah pulled away, glaring at Lebreau appalled. "O-of course it is!" She hollered, standing up on her feet. "What kind of girl do you think I am!?"

"W-we just thought..." Gadot tried to defend Lebreau who looked embarassed for asking the innocent question. "Vayne..."

Serah gasped, then looked angry. "I didn't sleep with him!" She screamed. "I can't believe you thought me so low!"

"Hey, whoa, Serah," Yuj swooped in, "We ain't judging you, we just thought-"

"Uh, guys-" Maqui pointed ahead, just as Vayne entered with a woman in knight's armor beside him. One of the other knights shoved down a beaten Larsa, he began to cough violently as he tried forcing himself up.

"Oh, Larsa..." Serah gasped, her eyes sparkling with fresh new tears.

"You really are something special, my dear." Vayne said. "Even my dear baby brother was willing to _backstab_ me for you."

"You beat up your own brother?" Lebreau asked, throwing the last bit of armor she took off on the ground for emphasis.

"Negatory," the female knight said, her voice serious and no nonsense. "Primarch Vayne Solidor will never let harm come to his own brother no matter what crimes he committed. This was done by Ser Joxe. We had to strip away his title for the assault, as well as his wife."

Serah gasped.

"You killed him...?" Gadot questioned.

"It needed to be done." Vayne said, brushing off his shoulder like nothing. "Thank you Ser Beatrix, please, help my dear brother. The floor ill befits his honor."

Beatrix strided towards Larsa and offered a hand, "Milord?"

Larsa looked up and accepted the offered hand with a grunt, allowing the older woman to help him to his feet.

"Now that this game is over," Vayne continued, "if you hand my betrothed to me, and maybe I'll drop all charges against your kidnapping."

"Our kidnapping!?" Lebreau spatted. "You're the ones who took her from us!"

"Joxe was the one who took her."

"By your orders, I bet." Gadot added.

Vayne chuckled like they were good buddies swapping war stories at a local pub. "That does not matter no more. Serah obviously wants to come with me."

Serah sighed beginning to walk towards him until Yuj grabbed her hand quickly. "You don't have to go with him! You're engaged to Snow, remember?"

"Snow?" Vayne said. "Where is your Snow?"

**Lightning's POV**

**Edge of Madness - Tower**

While we were clibing up the last of the stairs, the ground and the tower around us began to shake violently. Sazh and I ran back as the steps began to crumble from beneath our feet, Snow and Hope were already on the other side. "Guys!" Hope called out to us.

We stopped running, and a huge gap seperated us from our exit, unless we went all the way down. Snow and Hope stood above us. "Jump up, we'll hoist you up." Snow promised. "get that door opened, Hope."

Hope opened the door, a bright light radiating so we could see better. "Cosmos is in here. With Chaos. He's draining her powers."

"We gotta move fast, now." Sazh said, staring up at Snow. "Soldergirl you go first."

I stepped back as far as the steps allowed. Then I leaped up, just as a bright orangish flare lit up the entire tower. Snow grabbed my hand. "Grab my leg!" I commmanded Sazh. "Snow can pull us both up."

"Hurry guys," Hope said quickly. "Chaos is coming our way."

Snow pulled as hard as he could just as Sazh jumped for my boot, and the large man pulled both of us up to his level. Just in time Sazh casted a protect, shielding us from a fiery blow. Hope squrimed in and Snow charged through and knocked Chaos back through a wall of fire.

"We gotta get Cosmos!" Hope said.

"If you can reach her." Chaos teased, making the fire wall blaze higher.

I engaged Chaos in a sword fight while Sazh backed me up. "You think you can stand against me, weak L'Cie?" Chaos taunted, he was much too powerful and I found myself being weighed down by his strength. Even Sazh's bullets weren't enough to keep Chaos from literally weighing me down.

"Be careful, Chaos." I retorted, "We are alot stronger than you think." My chest sparked as I casted lightning magic, enhancing my sword and letting it combust against Chaos. He threw fire in my direction and I blocked it and my fingers burned from the hot metal, but I was careful to not let it show.

I slashed at him, and spun away as he swung his much larger sword just past my head, letting Sazh get some hits in. I kicked him in his face, somersaulting away from him, using his body as a wall, and shot at his opening. I ducked as he charged towards me and deflected when he tried to target Sazh.

I shot his helmet off, revealing his ugly beast face. "Geez, you're the ugliest thing I ever saw." I teased. Chaos zoomed towards me grabbing me by the neck and forced me towards the flames, I dug my heels into the ground to keep myself from getting burnt to a crisp.

"You think simple taunts are going to bruise my ego?" He asked.

"Nope. But this might. Go for it, Trenchcoat!" Sazh ordered.

Snow had been conjuring up as much magic as his large body can muster and casted a giant blizzard. Goosebumps popped up abruptly across my skin as the harsh cold bit my entire body. The flames that were used as a wall were turned into a wall of ice. It reminded me of when Snow and I encountered the volcanic fal'cie and he saved his own ass from getting melted with lava by using the ice magic.

Snow then launched Hope who had been on standby over the wall. Chaos glared down at me angrily and I grinned impishly in returned. He then grabbed my hair and smashed my head against the solid wall. The first time he hit it, my vision became disoriented. The second time I really felt something, I was sure I had a concussion.

Snow forced Chaos off of me, and the two threw themselves against the ice wall. Then it broke and the two tumbled through. I could see Hope climbing up a small flight of stairs to rescue the draining Cosmos.

"L-L'Cie...?" Cosmos questioned, half concious. She must have been enduring this for days. Her skin was pale and her once golden hair was pale as well. Her bright eyes were right now dark and exhausted. She actually looked like an old woman.

"We're going to get you out, Cosmos, ma'am." Hope reassured her politely. "You think healing magic would work on a goddess?" He asked me.

I shrugged. He gave it a shot and she sighed. I guess it did. "You take care of her." I told him. "I'm gonna-"

The tower's roof disappeared as Leviathan swooped in, the Gate behind Cosmos spinning out of control as Chaos began to seep in, getting released into Cocoon. "This cannot be happening!" I exclaimed.

"We could use a little help her, Soldiergirl!" Sazh cried over Leviathan's roar.

Chaos Vincent swooped in, shooting fireballs at the Eidolon, but wasn't affecting it much. Probably because they were both had Chaos's esscence. So Valentine's efforts were futile. I sent out a wave of lightning magic, but since Chaos's element mainly had to do with fire...Sazh and my magic wouldn't work.

"Snow, use your ice magic!" I commanded him.

"I don't have that much left in me." Snow groaned out as Chaos threw him on the other side of the room.

The Gate continued to spin psychotically. I was afraid it would shut down before we got through and we would be trapped here forever. I also noticed that Leviathan was beginning to squirm his way in through the gate.

He was going back to Cocoon. Chaos summoned a great burst of fire, that Sazh and I had to duck to the ground just so we wouldn't get burned as intensely. I looked up and Chaos was going through the gate. When he disappeared the color changed and sparks were flying out of it.

"We gotta get through before it shuts down. Cocoon's in trouble!" Hope annoucned, helping a weakened Cosmos up. Snow had shook off his injury and carried the Goddess bridal style. He jumped in first as soon as the glowing changed to blue.

We didn't have time to ponder one what the colors mean. All we knew is that we had to get out of here. I grabbed Hope's hand and we jumped in after them, trusting Sazh to be at our heels.

Like when we teleported before, I felt dizzy, as we were being pulled from one universe to another. This could not be good for a human being. Yet again, we were L'Cie. We aren't exactly human anymore.

But this time around I was becoming more aware of my surroundings. Maybe I was (though I would never admit it) terrified my first trip through. Terrified that something could end horribly wrong and I would lose like, my waist down or something. I've seen the time traveling movies.

But I was also more aware of Hope's tight deathgrip on my wrist, and if we weren't already traveling through this phenomonen, I would have possibly felt the circulation get cut off to my hand. Sazh flew by, rolling around like a plastic bag in the wind.

He was screaming really loud. And he even past by us. I couldn't help but laugh. But I couldn't see Snow or Cosmos, and I figured maybe they were up ahead. I glanced over at Hope, his eyes tight. "You scared?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not scared. But I've never been good with roller coasters or anything. I get really sick. And it's taking all my concentration not to throw up. If I _could_ throw up."

I snickered at his reaction. He rode on the back of Bahamut and a Garuda Fang and Vanile captured on the Palamecia. And there was the whole puzzle in Taejin's Tower and on our way to Orphan's Cradle, and I realize now he gets motion sickness.

It is pretty freaky, the experience of traveling to a different dimension. And this probably won't be the last time we do. You never know. At the end I saw a light. We were almost out. I closed my eyes as I felt our speed increase, then get thrown out onto something hard.

"Are we in Cocoon yet?" I heard Snow groaned. I looked over and saw him leaning protectively over Cosmos.

I looked up and...we were in Orhan's Cradle. And in there was NORA, Vayne and his men...and Serah.

She stared at us, first in fright...then tears began to stream down her eyes, her make up smearing. That was when I realized how nicely dressed she was. She launched herself at Snow. "Snow! You came for me!"

Snow looked surprised to see Serah, then he stood up and picked her up swinging her around like he usually did making her giggle. The two kissed each other. While the two had their moment I crawled over to a distressed Cosmos.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Chaos...he's at work. We have to get out of here. He's coming here." Cosmos whispered to me.

"Cosmos." Vayne greeted. "You had to have these L'Cie rescue you from your own demise. How ironic. You are a Goddess are you not. I always thought they to be immortal."

"Vayne," Cosmos stood up, trying to keep her confidence and boldness in front of the people. "Whatever you are doing here is selfish. You've kidnapped this helpless young girl because you wanted to use her to take control of Gran Pulse. Is what I give you not enough. I've given you all of Cocoon!"

"You don't understand, Cosmos." Vayne said. "True, I wish to have control of both Cocoon and Gran Pulse. More specifically Oerba." He then directed his attention at us. "Why didn't you stay here. Why didn't you give me a chance. Why can't you see what I can offer you. I've given Serah love she deserves, I don't leave her side, I give her everything a girl can ask for. And Ruby, she's following her dream of being an actress because of me. Can you not see what I would do to win your adoration."

"Well, when you do things like allow kidnapping and being oblivious to a girl who cries every night because she is clearly in loe with someone else." Yuj muttered. "I bet you didn't know Serah's pregnant."

**What**!? "Serah! You're pregnant!?" I couldn't help but exclaim.

She looked at me, startled then nodded.

"How long have you been?" I asked.

She muttered something.

"We can't hear you." Lebreau told her.

"ALMOST TWO MONTHS!" Serah exclaimed much too loudly and her face flushed in embarassment.

"Wh-wait a minute." I stood up. "I thought you didn't meet Snow until almost two months ago. Don't tell me you had sex the same day..."

Serah just stared at me, and I glanced down at Snow who looked guilty as hell. "Uh...it was...quite some night."

"You son of a b-" I was about to go after Snow but Sazh and Hope held me back.

"Light!" Hope whispered harshly. "This isn't the time to be attacking our friends. Vayne is right there."

He was right. Of course he was right. I blew my breath and let the two know I wasn't about to attack Snow...right now at least.

I couldn't believe him. He knocked up my sister before they were even a couple. And Serah let this happen.

"Forget the dillemma with Serah!" Yuj exclaimed. "The Chaos. Cosmos, Goddess, Lady, person, get on his ass about him lying to the people about Chaos!"

"You've been lying to the people about Chaos?" Cosmos seemed to have repeated, her tone similar to how a mother would talk to her son.

"The Chaos isn't gone?" Serah cried, clinging onto Snow. "Th-then what are we supposed to do?"

"Wait a minute-" Maqui blurted. "If the Chaos came to Cocoon...they didn't use this gate. Did that mean they use the one in...PalumPolum."

"Dad!" Hope cried. "My dad's there you guys! We gotta go!"

"I'm sorry to say I cannot let you go." Vayne said, ordering his men to block the exit. "You see, the people now know that Chaos has returned."

"Don't tell me you want to sit around and wait for Chaos to destroy Cocoon." Sazh yelled. "Hey, if we die, you're going down too, you shifty bastard."

"We can't stay here!" Serah cried. "And we can't go out there! What are we supposed to do."

The sound of a machine gun started up and we all dove for the ground, including Vayne and Cosmos. But I recognized the battle cry. I glanced up and Amodar stomped in the Cradle looked unamused. "There y'all are. It's rude to leave a guest waitin'."

"Lieutenant." I greeted, standing up and saluting in respect. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I figured you'd probably need back up."

"Amodar, there's a problem," Snow said, "Chaos is back, and he is stronger than ever."

Amodar sucked his teeth. "I doubt that very much. Look, whatever tea party is going down in the Primarch's basement can wait, I think. We are all citizens of Cocoon. Even the ones who moved to Gran Pulse, it's still our home. And even if you don't care for Cocoon no more, if we let this planet fall, Pulse could be next."

Amodar made alot of sense. Though Vayne wasn't right in his mind, we can't vent on only him. Chaos is the bigger threat here.

Vayne flipped his hair and stepped down, walked past me and towards where Serah was. Snow made her stand behind him. "I'll be willing to put this...fiasco behind us. I will aid you in the battle against Chaos. As long as you...forget what has happened here." He offered a hand.

Snow stared at him for a moment and was about to accept his handshake, when I spoke up. "No! Don't." I told Snow. "Vayne, after kidnapping my sister and holding her hostage, you honestly think all you can say is sorry than you will be scott-free. This isn't a squabble at a playground. The people of Cocoon will hear about this. And then you will no longer be Primarch-"

"Lightning, dear." Cosmos said. "He has to be the Primarch."

"Why, Cosmos?" I asked her, genuinly wondering why she put someone like him on the throne.

"He is no Dysley." She replied.

"He could be. He could be just as bad. Possibly worse." To be honest, I saw where she was coming from. But still...she coudn't find anyone better.

"I can't tell you more than that. but let's just say great things come to those who wait."

I rolled my eyes at her. I can't trust her eighter. She was the one that got herself captured by Chaos. She couldn't be as strong or stronger than him then. She couldn't be a suitable rival. Not a very comforting thought.

"Fine!" I spat. "You have one more choice. But you are not allowed anywhere near my sister. Do not fuck this up. Or you will have to deal with me."

He smirked in my direction. "I am pleased to have your forgiveness."

**General POV**

**PalumPolum**

Leviathan ridden by Chaos had passed through PalumPolum, destroying half the town. The Chaos smoke remained though, transforming the citvilians into slaves of Chaos. Wakka, with Nooj's help hurried to Cosmos's palace, half collapsed.

The roof was completely gone. "Lu!" Wakka cried, rushing over the rubble, Nooj followed after him. There were servants scattered about, some dead, most injured. A mercenary or two helped the lives ones as much as they could, but there really wasn't much they could do with the Chaos attacking.

Wakka stumbled upon Zone...or his body. His eyes were wide and lifeless, and his stomach was blown wide open from where he washit after the Gateway exploded from Chaos. The redhead heard coughing and sputtering, and a little ways off from Zone was a dying Watts.

His mouth leaking blood as he tried to crawl to his bestfriend. Wakka approached Watts, "Where's Lu?"

He coughed onto Wakka's arm, he then pointed toward the rubble that was once the roof. "Rin..." Watts whispered, then he was gone.

Wakka rushed over toward the rubble, forcing the collpased floor up with Nooj's help. "**Lu**!" Wakka cried. "I'm comin' for ya! Agh!" The two threw the rubble overhead and Lulu was coughing dust, debris falling off her. She moved Bartholomew's body aside, he having used himself to save Lulu's life.

"Lu!" Wakka cried, running towards his wife, pulling her into his arms. "Lu! Lu..."

She opened her eyes coughing, "Wakka..."

He pulled her into an embarace, happy that his wife was alive.

"V-Vidina...where's Vidina?" She asked.

"He's okay. He's safe. Some of Cosmos's knights took most of the women and children to Gran Pulse."

Lulu sighed, relieved that her son was alive, then pased out in her husband's arms, exhausted.

Nooj was checking Bartholomew for a pulse. It was weak but there. "Hey, wake up." he ordered the Council leader.

Bartholomew blearily opened his eyes and hunched over. "Ungh...my back..." He then looked around, "Hope! H-he never mdae it out! H-he's trapped."

"Bartholomew we have to get you to safety."

"No! Not without my son. I-I have to go to Eden and see if he made it." He forced Nooj off of him and limped towards the railroad to Eden.

Meanwhile in Gran Pulse, Morrigan was back in her shack, trying to avoid both Dajh and Marlene. She was in charge of taking care of them, after most of the village left with Rygdea upon hearing danger. The only people remaining were Morrigan, Yuna, and Vera, as well as all the children and pets including Viride, Chocolina, and the rest of the chocobos.

If things couldn't have gotten any worse, they just did when Morrigan heard a loud splash beneath her feet. She looked down, realizing her water broke. Then the pain came. She collapsed onto her knees right in her own puddle (much to Morrigan's dismay) and began to hunch over her stomach as the baby let her mother know she was ready to see the world.

"Morrigan? Are you coming yet?" Dajh asked and Morrigan clenched her teeth to keep herself from cursing aloud. but it was no use.

"Ah!" She cried.

"Morrigan?" Marlene rushed in, almost slipping in Morrigan's puddle. "Is this pee?" She then gasped. "Oh my gosh! You're baby is coming?"

"G-get YuNa!" Morrigan's voice cracked from the pain.

"O-okay!" Marlene exclaimed, scurrying out of the hut. "We gotta get Yuna! The baby is coming!"

Dajh was bewildered and felt his way inside the shack. "D-don't step there!" Morrigan quickly said as Dajh was about to step into the puddle.

He backup quickly, trusting Morrigan's words.

Morrigan realized that this was it.


	26. Chaos in Cocoon (Finale)

**After The Fall: Chaos in the Cosmos**

**Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square Enix.**

**Warnings: Blood & Gore, Violence. Implied Nudity.**

**Lightning's POV**

**Eden**

We all left EdenHall just in time to witness the corruption of Eden, as Chaos rode through on the back of Leviathan. "Hello, L'Cie." He greeted in a taunting tone.

"Chaos!" Cosmos cried out. "Why are you trying to take over Cocoon?" She asked genuinely.

Chaos merely laughed. "It's my namesake. I cause Chaos in all the worlds. One by one I claim them, and they become mine. I've already taken care of your people you left behind in PalumPolum."

Hope gasped from beside me. "No. Dad..."

Chaos then rode off, Leviathan slithering away and we watched him go, passing by a familiar airship. It was Rygdea's. He landed right outside EdenHall and the doors opened up.

Just as a swarm of Chaos's mutated knights charged in. I attacked first, I slashed downward and one of the knights blocked the attack, raising my blade up and throwing me slightly off balance. I blocked an attack they had on me and spun around somersaulting over their head and shooting their face. They cried out in pain as I landed on my feet.

Snow stomped toward a particularly bigger knight and punched him in the face and began to brawl him. When the knight tried to slice Snow, the large man was able to grab the sword and break it in half. He then kicked the man down, and jumped up performing Sovereign Fist. "Here it comes!" he said and body slammed the knight, the weight of Snow's impact as well as the armor ending his life.

I then heard Serah scream as a knight made to grab Serah. She squirmed screaming for Snow then fell on her knees, covering her face as the knight attempted to slice her head off. I rushed in and blocked the attack, standing protectively over Serah. Snow pulled the knight off and twisted his neck. Serah screamed in shock. Lebreau took Serah, holding her protectively behind her as she continued to shoot down more knights.

I sensed one coming my way and quickly shot him. Then Sazh joined in on the shootout using both his guns, walking cooly toward the knight who was now beginning to reflect the attack. Sazh reloaded, letting the used ammo fall onto the stained red carpeted floor and continued shooting them down. He then performed Cold Blood and pulled off gun poses like a chocoboy in a movie. He even said "Yee-Haw!" As he did it.

I then saw Hope getting cornered by two knights and I rushed in to help him. "Let's do this!" I told him. We split apart and I began to wildly slash at two knights while Hope was handling more on his side. I finished my side quicker than Hope did who was now taking on a third bigger knight. "Hope give me a boost!" I told him, running toward him.

I jumped towards him and he tapped the bottom of my boot up so I could get a good somersault in at the right angle and with lightning magic, took down all three of the knights. They screamed at the lightning that was inside their armor attacking their skin. Then Hope finished them by throwing his boomerang.

I jogged towards him and we shared a highfive. Maqui had his goggles on and he and Gadot were combining their strength and mind in taking down the more muscleheaded beast looking knights. Gadot would basically break their backs while Maqui (a pretty impressive sharpshooter himself) blew each of their heads off with his gun like way back in Oerba when we held two of the knights prisoner.

Lebreau was able to multi task taking care of Serah and keeping her safe while shooting down some knights. She grimaced after a time and called Yuj over to take care of Serah for a moment. Yuj accepted the job without complaint while Lebreau unleashed an all out Action Girl battle cry, running through a throng of knights shooting them down like nothing. This tired her out though and she began to wheeze in response.

Gadot checked up on her quickly while Hope sent her healing magic, helping her regain her bearings. "Thanks, kid." She said gratefully with a thumbs up.

I then saw Chaos's snipers above the Hall, and a red dot was aiming at Sazh's back. "Sazh look out!"

The dark skinned man looked around confused until the sniper suddenly crumpled up and fell down in front of us. Another one, that I hadn't even noticed was even there fell as well. I glanced over and standing there was a battered and beatened Bartholomew. His hair was not in his neat comb back and was now shaggy in front of his eyes. One lense of his glasses was gone completely while the other was cracked. His tie was a mess while his shirt was torn...he looked worse then when we reunited with him after Cocoon's Fall.

Hope smiled widely when he saw that his father was alive and well and sent him cure spells.

"Good to see you're still breathin' Bart!" Amodar said jumping in front of everyone. "Boys and girls you better duck!" he ordered as he reved his machine gun up. He let out a battle cry as he fired up and I could hear his bullets pierce the armor of knights. When we sat back up upon hearing Amodar's gun die down, all the men were down.

That was when I noticed most of the village had come with Rygdea to help us in our fight. Including Terra, and Cloud, and Reks, just to name the ones I saw right now. They went on ahead. "Your guy is on his way towards the Grand Prix Circuit. He's trying to get to Gapra Whitewood. So far he's claimed Bodhum and PalumPolum. You better bust your little asses or else we'll be slaves of Chaos." Rygdea informed us in his usual southern drawl.

Ruby bursted out from within the airship, "Serah!" She squealed and most of us covered our ears at her sudden voice. I had forgotten how annoying she sounded. "Come with me darlin', unless you want to get caught in the fray!"

Serah pulled away from Yuj and stared at Snow. "Come back to me, okay." She whispered. Snow smiled and pulled her in for a deep kiss. When they pulled away Snow touched Serah's stomach, now aware that a child is growing inside my sister. Serah then scurried for the airship and Ruby took the airship out of Eden.

"Let's mosey!" Cloud announced and Rygdea glanced at the blond in both confusion and amusement.

"Haha, now you're talkin'! Let's kick these damn Chaos outta of our home!"

"Yeah!" We all cheered, running towards the Plaza. Large snakes were wrapping themselves around the fountain, they were the size of a room in a house. People were diving over to avoid the Chaos Serpents. It's beady yellow eyes witnessed our approach and hissed, their tails rattling as they got ready to jump at us.

The Chaos was dripping off it's scaly body. Rygdea tried to shoot the creature down but it was too quick. Rygdea jumped toward me and we barely made it over the fountain, avoiding the Chaos waters. He helped me up and luckily our large party hadn't been attacked by the poisonous snake. It wasn't a Chaos Infused snake, just a snake from Chaos's world covered in the black liquid.

I casted lightning magic on the fountain, expecting the water to electricute the snake, but I assumed the Chaos was too thick to direct the current, and the large snakes were reptiles. Their scales weren't going to be affected. One slithered in my direction and I began shooting at it. He slithered away avoiding the bullets like it was nothing. It's mouth opened wide in front of Rygdea and I and I could see it's chaos's covered fangs.

Snow was able to push the snake away from us. Cosmos used her magic and instantly the chaos disappeared of the snake's body, now revealing shiny black scaly skin. He glared at the Goddess angrily and began to head in her direction, following him were two of the other snakes and Cosmos swiped the Chaos off their body. Cosmos was beginning to fly up a bit, her feet not touching the Chaos stained floors.

She then mustered up as much magic as she could, her body giving off a blue aura. The snakes couldn't get close and after a while and hearing the groans coming from Cosmos the snakes began to shake violently. And they were beginning to split apart. She glared at the snakes, her eyes glowing as well as her aura and then she mimed the ripping motion and the snakes combusted, a blue bubble surrounding the Chaos that would have splattered all over us, and the disapeared within Cosmos's bubble.

I was wrong, she was equally as strong as Chaos. If not stronger. She was able to cleanse Chaos.

She glanced over at us, breathing heavily, but not ready to give up just yet. "L'Cie." She spoke to us, the sounds of destruction and people's misery in the background. "I give you my powers as my chosen warriors. Only you can defeat Chaos, and this will help you in the long run." I felt a fluttering within my chest and my gunblade was layered with Cosmos's magic. "Now go." She commanded. "Defeat Chaos once and for all."

**General POV**

**Oerba Village**

Yuna had rushed into the shack upon hearing Marlene's rush of words on Morrigan having her baby. She barged into the shack and Morrigan was clinging onto the side of the bed while Dajh was standing off to the side, not aware of what exactly was going on. Ainu had followed his mother upon hearing the commotion and helped Dajh get out of the shack with Marlene. Yuna helped Morrigan to her feet and the dark haired woman was squatting beginning to breathe heavily.

"We have to get you to the clinic. The supplies are there." Yuna told Morrigan. But Morrigan was adamant on staying in her comfort zone.

"No!" She barked, "we have to have the baby here."

"We can't." Yuna told her. "The equipment is in my clinic, and I can't carry all that stuff in here. All the men are gone to fight."

Morrigan groaned in both anoyance and pain. "Can you really carry me?" She asked.

"I've done it before." Yuna told Morrigan.

"No! Put me on the bed and get that useless girl Vera to help you carry the equipment."

"F-Fine." Yuna said, refusing to argue. There was no way Morrigan was going to change her mind. She helped the dark haired woman to her own bed, and ordered the kids to go back to Yuna's house and wait for them there. Ainu had wanted to help but Marlene assured Yuna's son that it wold be best if they just stayed out the way. So they left the shack, Marlene helping Dajh on their way.

Yuna hoisted Morrigan onto the bed and groaned at Morrigan's dirty sheets. "This is not sanitary. I'm going to get some clean sheets. I just cannot work with this." She told her.

"Do whatever you need to do. Just as long as I have my girl here." Morrigan told Yuna.

Yuna bit her lip, still not completly agreeable for delivering a baby in a shack when there was a perfectly clean and functional clinic nearby. Now she had to hurry and get Vera to help her get ready for the birth of the baby. She exited the shack and headed straight for Yuj's Outfitters, hopefully Vera was there at 'work' despite there only being six people in the village right now. She tugged her gold jacket closer to her body as her boots crunched the snow.

She opened the door, a small bell signaling Yuna's arrival and unfortunately, Vera wasn't there. "Vera!" Yuna called out. "Please tell me you're in here?" She called out. Vera then came out of the closet, dressed in one of Yuj's dresses that was probably made for Serah.

"What do you want?" Vera asked.

"Morrigan is about to have her baby. I need you to help me deliver it." She told her.

"Why would I want to deliver that bitch's spawn."

"I don't like Morrigan eighter, but she is still a soon to be mother. And even though she is trying to pull the fearless woman routine, I can tell she is terrified. All new mothers are. Now let's go. Help me carry the equipment."

"We have to carry stuff." Vera whined as she followed Yuna out of the store. "That's a man's job."

**Lightning's POV**

**Eden**

We managed to get to the abandoned Siren Park, and once we arrived we all heard the sound of something loud shrieking. We covered our ears. "What is that?" Terra exclaimed. We then saw the approaching much skinnier Chaos beasts. If I didn't know any better I would have thought they were female versions. They probably were, I wasn't a biologist. The beast came in groups and all at once they screeched like banshees and we cringed at the grating noise.

Terra and I came in and began to take on the banshee creatures. They had long arms and black and red fur with red eyes. They were actually really bony, but they were quick and flexible and when we got close enough we were thrown back by their screamings. I felt my head and ears rattle and ring, this couldn't be good. These creatures must really be doing something to the brain.

Terra summoned Valefor. She reached into her red tank top and pulled out a floral looking crystal. She threw it on the ground, stomping it open and widening her arms sideways, directing the light to the sky. The Chaos temporarily cleared up and Valefor swooped in for Terra. One of the banshee's unfortunately grabbed the back of Terra's hair, it's long nail attempting to stab Terra's neck.

Valefor swooped in to Terra's rescue, but despite the banshee's long skinny body, they were extremely strong enough to try and weigh Terra down and Valefor. The nail was getting Terra's ponytail so tangled up it looked impossible for us to get it out and the banshee was close to killing Terra. I only did the only thing I could do. I drew my gunblade into blade mode and chopped Terra's ponytail off.

Her now short curly blonde hair was released from the ribbon and circled around her face. She gasped in surprise but quickly got her bearings and pulled her sword and stabbed the banshee in the eye. Valefor then performed Energy Ray and blew up the row of banshees. Terra glanced down at me and threaded her fingers in her short hair, and instead of screaming and freaking out she laughed.

Tifa was beating up the banshees with her martial arts, reprimanding Sazh who was shooting at them. "I said I got this. I don't need help!" She teased with a smile and jumped onto a banshee and snapped their neck with her legs. She then, like an acrobat bended backwards and bycicle kicked another banshee in the face. She jumped to her feet, jumping up and down as the adrenaline flowed through her veins. When she saw she took down the last of the banshees she flipped her hair until she saw Terra. "Crap. What happened to your hair?" She asked.

Terra climbed off of Valefor momentarily to show the rest of the group the haircut I gave her. "look, we match." She teased, poking my cheek.

"I really am sorry, Terra." I apologized.

She didn't seem too bothered by her now short hair. "You saved my life, Light." She told me.

"We got things covered here, you guys should keep going." Tifa quickly said, mounting on the back of Valefor.

**General POV**

**Oerba Village**

Yuna changed the sheets underneath Morrigan after she and Vera had lugged all the equipment they were going to need for the delivery. Vera continued to be a pain in Yuna and Morrigan's side. Complaining about how heavy the equipment were, how badly Morrigan's shack smelled and how ugly she looked, her mutter under her breath about Morrigan. Morrigan had tried to tell her off but Yuna forced the dark haired woman back on.

"I'm gonna take your pants of now." Yuna informed the dark haired woman. "Vera, help me get them off."

Vera rolled her eyes and groaned in exageration as she yanked Morrigan's boots off and threw them carelessly on the floor, not even bothering to set them up nicely. Yuna tugged on Morrigan's leather pants. "Morrigan, didn't I tell you how dangerous it is to wear these tight pants during a pregnancy if not at all."

"I don't always listen to your rambling." Morrigan informed the nurse.

"I wasn't rambling I was giving you a warning. Stop it!" She yanked off the leather pants, and Morrigan heard a tear.

"You are ruining my trousers!" She barked as Yuna shoved the article of clothing in Vera's hands, who dropped it in disgust. When Yuna went for Morrigan's maroon panties, Vera was quick to keep her distance from her undergarments. Yuna sighed and tossed it next to the torn and seemingly ruined leather pants.

"Spread your legs Morrigan." Yuna ordered the black haired woman.

"..." Morrigan could only glare at Yuna and Vera.

**Lightning's POV**

**Eden**

We made it to the Interchange and we just arrived in time to witness a Chaos behemoth terrorizing civilians, swinging it's sword around knocking around cars and other transportation. People continued to scream trying to get off the roads, whether on foot or jumping into cars and speeding off before the behemoth could touch them. The behemoths roared when he saw us approach them.

Cloud drew his bustersword and I drew my gunblade. Cloud battled the behemoth like he would a person, blocking the behemoth's sword with his mightier and larger one. When I tried doing the same to another behemoth, unfortunately I was much too small and my weapon was not strong enough to take on the behemoth. The large creature was able to kick me back and I skidded back until I was against Vaan and we tumbled over each other.

"Duck!" I heard Hope cry. I grabbed the back of Vaan's head and slammed him back down to the ground and Hope threw his boomerang, enhanced with magic that gained the behemoths attention. The behemoths roared and I jumped over Vaan and began shooting at them. Vaan ran around me skidding down and blocked as a behemoth swung his sword and caught it, a huge spark igniting in response.

I enhanced my gunblade and caused a current of electricity to surround the behemoth. I jumped up, raising my blade far above my head and landed down, my sword crackling and electricuting the group of behemoths. They tried to come for me but Hope was casting magic at the towering creatures, now wavering and faltering. Cloud swung his blade around and blue flames appeared as he activated a manadrive. He slammed his sword into the road and the flames caused a wave and it finished off the behemoths.

Cloud and Vaan were covering things here while we headed toward the elevator. This was going to take us to the bridge to the Grand Prix. Us L'Cie as well as Squall, Reks, and Tidus filed into the elevator. "I hope the others are doing alright." Sazh said, thinking about the ones we left behind to fight.

"Serah...I hope she's safe." Snow added.

The elevator stopped, something I should have saw coming. I jumpstarted it again using lightning magic. The lights flickered as it began to go up a level. I crossed my arms and tapped my foot in annoyance when the elevator music began to play. We all stood inside, on edge and Sazh coughed in the moment of silence.

"Well," Tidus commented. "This is awkward."

Luckily we didn't have to wait that much longer (good thing, because Squall looked close to murdering every single person that was on board this elevator). We exited just as the bridge collapsed from in front of us. Chaos rode by with Leviathan, destroying everything in it's path. Chaos taunted us as he went ahead. The elevator as well was beginning to crumble. "Come on." Reks told the group. "We gotta climb across using that."

He pointed toward excess elevator wire that was beginning to snap out of it's place. "Will it hold?" Snow asked. Tugging on the wire testingly.

"What other choice do we have?" Reks asked. "The kid goes in front."

Hope visibly gulped in front of me as he eyed the wire. He had to be hoisted up by Snow just to reach it and then with a sigh began to climb across. I was next, followed by Squall, Reks, Tidus, Sazh, and lastly Snow. When the largest man tried to climb on, the wire whined in protest and I felt the back get weighed down severely. We were doing well up until I heard the wire strain.

"Hurry, Hope." I told the boy in front of me. Hope finally made it across and I did as well. Only Hope, Squall, Reks, and I made it across before a Chaos flier, similar to what Vincent Valentine became flew and snapped the wire. Tidus reached his hand up as the group began to fall. Squall jumped for him and grabbed a hold of Tidus's hand as the rest of the party clung below him in a clumsy fashion.

The flier was coming for us and we needed to get our party up. Squall managed to pull Tidus up and Hope was knocked aside by the flier, almost falling off the bridge. "Hope!" I cried out reaching for him as Tidus almost fell back down as he was helping Sazh up.

"Hurry up, we're slippin'." Sazh called up sounding in great strain. I helped Hope up to his feet and the five of us went back to helping our allies get back to their feet. The flier had returned. I shot my gun at it trying to keep it from distracting us from saving our friends. The wire was beginning to tear as Sazh and Snow continued to weigh it down.

Then it did and Sazh and Snow cried out in surprise. Tidus reached for Sazh's sleeve and saved them from plummeting to their deaths. He pulled Sazh up and the flier continued to attack. Squall slashed and fired his own gunblade at the flier, trying to defeat it. Snow jumped and was about to slip back, but I helped him back to his feet. Reks then took on the flier beast morph but then the creature pulled out his gun, aiming underneath Reks's neck.

Snow pulled Reks away just as the bullet grazed Snow's arm. I smacked the gun out of his hand and took it for my own and shot the flier down. It fell and I kicked it over the bridge. "Snow, you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine. Been better, but nothin' that won't get better." Snow told us.

Hope sent Snow some healing magic and we saw the fireballs coming our way. Most of us ran towards the Expressway while Squall stayed behind.

The Expressway was littered with Chaos Infusions. "Pultis Amicus Veniant." I chanted and we all glowed.

Reks roared his battle cry as he charged towards the Chaos Infusion with his sword. He began slashing furiously and wildly at the creature, splats of Chaos spurting out. "Careful, don't let it get on you!" I warned him. He didn't answer so I could only trust that he heard me. He then stabbed his sword into the Chaos Infusions's stomach and somersaulted, slicing the creature in half as it exploded with Chaos.

He landed inbetween Snow and I. Another creature was coming our way and Hope handled this one. He stabbed the Infusion into it's stomach and twisted. He avoided the spurts of Chaos. I helped Reks take on his new target while Sazh helped Tidus fire up his Infusion.

"How long does this last?" Reks asked.

"For some time." Snow informed them. "You think you will be okay while we go on ahead?"

"I got this place covered." Reks told us. "Just go!"

After some time, we finally were crossing the Skywalk. "We're almost at the Grand Prix Circuit." I informed the rest of our group.

"Careful," Sazh warned, "don't fall."

"Cieth!" Tidus cried pointing ahead. Cieth were in fact heading our way.

"Throw me overhead. We're gonna get the jump on them." Hope told Tidus.

"Are you crazy!?" I exclaimed. "I am not letting you go out alone."

"I'm not going out on my own. I'm just getting a head start on the Preemptive Strike. No time to argue."

"Hope!" but he ignored me as Tidus launched him past the skywalk and Hope threw his magically enhanced boomerang. The cieth reacted and were distracted as we came running in. I shot at the cieth, aiming for their eye. Tidus ran forward and began to attack the cieth with his liquid manadrived sword. He jumped up and somersaulted spliting apart two cieths at once. He landed beside Snow.

He then jumped ahead on a hoverbike and began to drive the cieth away from the Skywalk. "You guys go on ahead. Chaos is waiting for you."

"Are you going to be alright, Tidus?" I asked him.

He gave me a thumbs up and zoomed off, the cieth following him. I exchanged a look with my fellow L'Cie. This was it. We're about to defeat Chaos once and for all.

**General POV**

Ruby was confused on how to get to Oerba. She had come around Eden, rescuing as much women and children as she could gather til the airship was stuffed with them. Serah was getting airsick, since she was pregnant. And as soon as Serah told Ruby, all the women jumped at the news.

"You're pregnant!?" One woman exclaimed.

"Before you married the Primarch?"

"That's wonderful news!"

"You two work fast!"

Serah was panicked as she glanced at twenty or so faces staring at her in eighter happiness or perplexion. Serah was sure this wasn't the Primarch's baby. She didn't dare sleep with him. But how could she tell these women that they belonged to her _real_ fiance' without sounding like a whore.

Women were quick to throw that word around, even knowing they'd tear somebody's limb off if they said the same about them. Serah has often been called that because she 'stole somebody's boyfriend' or 'she's eighteen years old and dresses like a raunchy schoolgirl'. It hurts. And Lightning once in a while will hear these horrible rumors spun by jealous and envious women and beat them to a pulp, defending Serah's honor.

Serah hated being called something she was not, and didn't understand how some women can just take that heat and ignore them. So she didn't answer the women. She just remained against the wall, head out the window despite the Chaos just in case she had to throw up.

Ruby, luckily caught on that Serah didn't want her business put out there so she got back to piloting the airship. "So...does anybody else know how to drive this thing?"

The whole airship erupted in a panick.

Down below, still in EdenHall, NORA as well as Amodar were defending the building alongside Primarch Vayne Solidor, Ser Beatrix, and the Primarch's younger brother, Lord Larsa Solidor. Maqui saw the incoming Chaos serpents and swore in a panick. "Snake. Snake! **Snakes**!" he cried, shooting them down with a rather girly shriek. "I hate snakes!" he continued to cry as he tried killing the reptiles.

Gadot, immune to the Chaos that was dripping off the serpants, wrapped his large arms around their long necks and tried to strangle them, black liquid Chaos oozing from their mouths and dripping on the hard floor. The snakes squirmed as they tried to shake Gadot off of them but Gadot kept his grip until they were beginning to move less and less until they seized moving all together.

Vayne was surprisingly a brawler. Or a martial artist like Tifa. He used careful and cautious moves as he dealt with the Chaos. The funniest thing to note on Vayne's battling is that he managed to dodge as much liquid Chaos as he could and his long flowy hair was still neat, glossy, and shiny, and his suit had no stain on it. It was like he was a beautiful god who can fight with barely touching the enemy, but still deal quite the bit of damage, while still looking fabulous.

Lebreau noticed this with a dreamy sigh. But when a snake attempted to sneak up on her she jumped, somersaulting over the reptile and belting out a wild battle cry and shot at the serpant's face. "Die you ugly bastard!" She called out to it as she circled around the beast shooting. "Damn it," she noticed the bullets mostly reflecting off the reptile's scaly skin. "I'm gonna need something heavier to take it down."

Yuj had grabbed a big shotgun from one of the dead soldiers (Beatrix eyed him angrily for the loot) and he began to fire at the serpant's head, blowing the head off and having liquid Chaos spilling all over like a garden hose. He tossed Lebreau one and she laughed evily as she aimed her shotgun at a new set of serpants slithering their way, only one or two dead bodies being kicked over.

Beatrix had noticed Lebreau's willingness to fight and greatly admired it. "You keep this up, you could be a knight." She told Lebreau who only smirked at the brunette. Beatrix, with elegant grace that will make an acrobatic ballerina glare at her in envy, she flipped over so she was on the snake's back. He waved his tail up, so she was sliding down and when he went in for a taste, she leaped off, making him bite his own tail.

Amodar was going all out with his machine gun. "Everybody duck." He ordered the others as he revved it up. Vayne forced Maqui down who had been trying to get rid as many snakes as possible, Gadot helped Lebreau down, Yuj dove like an explosion just took place, While Beatrix was forcing Larsa down to the ground in a protective almost mother bear sweep. Amodar cried as the machine gun began to fire taking down only one snake.

"Damn, that usually works." Amodar swore, going for his back up gun. Larsa shoved Beatrix out the way as a serpeant went for them.

"Lord Larsa!" She cried out as she saw him hanging off of the serpeant's tail. Larsa slashed at the last ones eyes and it cried out at the sudden lost of sight. Larsa jumped off the tail and slid over a pool of Chaos, and quickly shredded a sweater vest he was wearing so he wouldn't get poisoned. Vayne ran over to him in fright.

"Larsa, are you alright?" He asked his younger brother, his voice full of concern.

"I am fine, brother." He reassured his older brother with a smile.

At the plaza, Rygdea with some PSICOM soldiers and Cosmos, having just been assisted by some of her own knights and mages were holding their own against possessed civilians. They couldn't kill them, so Cosmos tried to purify them with her magic. They could only save most of them. Some were to far in to return back to their normal state. So Rygdea was forced to shoot them down.

He then heard the familiar whir of his airship above him and Ruby popped her head out. "Rygy!" She cried out, "how do we get out of here, I gotta a ship full of gals and their babies. And one of them's pregnant."

"Cosmos." Rygdea told the tall Goddess. "I don't want these gals getting caught up in this storm. Could you get them home."

Cosmos nodded, flying up like an angel with wings and led the airship out of Eden and back to Gran Pulse. Rygdea watched with a smile as the love of his life left with Serah and Harry to safety.

At the Park, now on fire from the winged beasts, Terra and Tifa were hiding underneath park benches to try and lure out some of the beasts. Tifa tried to protect Terra which began an argument about whether Terra needed protection or not. Valefor had already been timed out so they were on their own. When one landed Terra jumped over after as Tifa screamed after her and she went in for the attack.

The winged beast grabbed Terra by her now short hair and Tifa went in for an attack when she realized the creature wasn't trying to kill Terra. Was just trying to stop her. Then she saw his face, and her blood ran cold. "V-Vincent?" She asked. Apparently she knew him. He didn't say anything instead pulled his gun, throwing Terra against Tifa and shooting down an incoming winged beast that were coming for an attack.

"My abilities won't do much." Valentine explained to the girls. "I'll only be ale to back you up."

Terra knew there was no time to explain and got into a battle stance. Tifa too seemed a bit curious as to why Vincent looked like one of them but was fighting for them. She got into her martial arts stance.

At the Interchange, Cloud and Vaan were against Chaos Infusions. It was no use they were not going to be able to kill them. Cosmos, who was flying back to assist Rygdea after leading Ruby out of Cocoon saw the two struggled and sent them her powers temporarily, praying that that was all they would need. Cloud conjured up his manadrive and sliced the Chaos Infusion acrossed their stomach making them explode.

Vaan stabbed his sword into a stomach of another creature and brought it upward, slicing it vertically. Vaan looked around at all the Chaos that was on the floor. "Ugh." He groaned, about to wipe his sword against his pants but Cloud blocked with his own sword.

"It's poisounous." He warned the younger man. "You get any of that gunk on you it'll burn your skin right off."

Vaan gulped. "Thanks man, for the warning."

Squall was taking on the cieth. Squall ran up to one of them, and swung his sword knocking out the eye and making the cieth turn to ash and dust, blowing away with the wind. He stabbed another one, firing his gun just to get the cieth on the other side that was waddling towards them, swinging it's arms. He ducked as another went for a swing and almost missed when Reks came in to the rescue.

Squall and Reks stood back to back. "Looks like I owe you one, Leonheart." Reks told him.

"I suppose you do, PSICOM." He told the older Ratsbane brother.

Reks laughed. "I bet you never thought you'd be fighting alongside a PSICOM?"

Squall just humphed as he lunged at another Cieth. Reks stabbed a cieth in the eye and rounded around the large stone creature, pulling his sword out and stabbing another watching as they disappeared within their eyes.

Tidus was tasked with a much easiar mission. Standing before him was a possessed Chaos knight, with blonde hair. It was Seifer Almasy. Now not in the right mind. He drew his gunblade and beckoned with his finger for Tidus to come for him. Tidus smirked and danced on the balls of his feet, readying for whatever attack Seifer had for him. Seifer began summoning a fireball from his hand.

**Gran Pulse**

Thanks to Cosmos (and Ruby's piloting) all the women and children from Eden made it to Oerba without crashing to wait out the battle. Serah was being escorted by a much bigger woman with about several children of her own. "Come on, dearie, you can't be starvin' yourself you gotta get somethin' in that belly of yours for you and your kid."

"But I feel sick." Serah whined, laying her head against the thick woman's shoulder.

"Did you know this girl has been starving herself for three days?" The girl explained to Ruby who's eyes widened in surprise. "No wonder she ain't feelin' well."

"Damn, girl, you can't be doin' that. Come on, let's get you to Tifa's bar and feed your baby." Ruby told Serah.

"Speaking of babies." Ainu said as he approached the two. "Morrigan's having her baby now."

"Really?" Ruby said! "Ooh that's so exciting! I'm gonna go see. Renee, can you feed Serah?"

"Sure, dear." the large woman, Renee, confirmed. "What's your name, young man?" She asked Ainu.

"My name's Ainu. I live here in the village. There are two other kids here right now. And some scattered about but we never know exactly where they are."

"Okay Ainu," Renee said with a smile. "Could you show my kids around. Keep them occupied."

"Sure."

In Morrigan's shack, she was beginning to sweat and breathing heavily. It was just about time to give birth but not yet. Ruby bursted into the shack. "Surprise! Guess who's back?" Ruby cheered.

"Ruby, what are you doing here?" Vera squealed, and the two hugged squealing and Morrigan screamed in pain.

"What's wrong?" Yuna asked sitting by her side.

"Their voices." Morrigan moaned. "Get them out! Get them both out!"

"Is it just you?" Vera asked, ignoring Morrigan's complaints.

"Eden was in trouble, so we rescued as many women and children as we could and brought them here until Chaos is gone for good. We even have Serah with us."

Vera and Yuna looked surprised. "Serah's here?" They asked at the same time.

"Come on, you can say hi to her." Ruby lead the two women out of Morrigan's shack. Morrigan laid there, her bottom naked and legs apart ready for the baby. And she was the only one in the room.

"Tis has to be a joke." She grumbled.

**Lightning's POV**

**Eden**

He was waiting for us. In the middle of the Grand Prix Circuit. Still mounted on Leviathan. He laughed when he saw us. "Well, well. So this is what it has come to. I fight you face to face, on Cocoon in a stadium. Did you picture this to be the place you died. Did you picture me as your killer?"

I shook my head. "No." I drew my gunblade, aiming the blade at Chaos. "I pictured this to be the place where it all ends."

Chaos's eyes lit up with fire. "Leviathan!" the sea serpeant charged towards us, his mouth wide open ready for his meal. Snow and Sazh jumped to the left side while Hope and I leaped to the right side. Chaos leaped in front of us and I blocked his sword as he tried to wipe Hope and I out. Again, he weighed alot, but he wasn't as strong on Cocoon then he was in Edge of Madness. So I was able to push him away.

Snow then went in to brawl, throwing Chaos across the Circuit. I dueled Leviathan, keeping it's mouth from gobbling me up. Why did this Eidolon want to eat me? I wondered disturbed. I heard a crack as I broke it's jaw and it fell over near where Sazh was. He yelped backed up and began shooting at the Eidolon that seized moving. I then assisted Snow who was beating up the beast that caused all the Chaos.

Sazh switched gears and began shooting Chaos. He used Snow as a shield and nipped Snow on the shoulder. "Sorry, man." Sazh apologized. Snow hunched over and gave him a thumbs up, letting him know he was alright. Chaos threw Snow down and stepped over his back, Snow groaning in protest. Sazh continued to shoot and he reflected the attacks. I helped Sazh, switching blade into gun mode and he began swinging his sword running in my direction.

A boomerang knocked the sword out of Chaos's hand and circled around a now alive Leviathan. Hope was running away from the Eidolon and fell over using his blade and stabbed the Eidolon through the front of his jaw. But it wasn't enough. Leviathan wrapped it's tail around Hope tried to crush him and I stabbed my sword into it's skin, igniting lightning magic. I heard Hope scream as he got shocked by my magic.

Leviathan uncoiled himself and Hope laid limp. "Odin." I summoned. I reached into my lit up crystal and threw it in the air, just in time for Snow to rouse Hope and get him out of the fray. I saw Chaos knock Snow and Hope over into the center of the circuit and Hope began sending himself and us healing magic. I broke the crystal and Odin came to my aid, he helped me down. "Let's go Odin."

Odin began to battle Leviathan again. having learned from the last battle he kept a reasonable distance. I helped Snow and Hope battle Chaos while Sazh continued to shoot at him. He merged the two guns together to create his shotgun and tried to defeat Chaos that way. But Chaos was still much too strong. He growled and sent fire magic Sazh's way. Sazh blocked it with only his arm. He laughed. "That don't work on me, man." He teased.

Sazh is immune to fire. Just like I was immune to lightning. But unfortunately, Chaos seemed to put the pieces together and returned his attention back to Snow and Hope. The weakest when up against fire. "Odin, gesault mode!" I told my Eidolon. Odin threw Leviathan and the Chaos Eidolon squirmed as it landed wrong. Odin ran to my aid, transforming into my stallion. I grabbed his sword and mounted on the back of him.

Leviathan slithered around us and I was momentarily distracted by Leviathan. Snow was thrown back by Chaos's fire magic. "Agh!" Snow cried.

"Snow! Hang on there, man, I'm comin' for ya!" Sazh promised the large man as the blonde continued to back away from Chaos's chaotic fireball throwing. Snow jumped to his feet and ran away from Chaos's fire magic. Snow then blew a blizzard in Chaos's direction, and I sensed Cosmos's powers starting to kick in. Chaos was delayed from the blizzard but he was still heading Snow's way.

Snow summoned the biggest snowstorm that the whole Circuit was layed in ice. Hope then stood on his feet and used his Last Resort. Only this time it was different. The holy spell was bigger and stronger and it looked like it took a lot more energy out of Hope. Chaos then began to turn into black smoke. Snow ran towards the beast, lighting up a pale blue and his voice sounding almost animalistic as he delivered the final blow.

Chaos was thrown back, a chaos cloud figure left behind. It disappeared within itself and the body turned to ash. Leviathan was left. I turned around and Leviathan attacked Odin, and he kicked his tail up, knocking me in the air. I saw leviathan's throat.

**Hope's POV**

I couldn't believe my eyes. Leviathan _swallowed _Light! He took a big gulp and laughed right in Odin's face. Odin returned back to it's normal form, fuming that his master had just been...eaten. Sazh groaned and Snow gagged in disgust. I seemed to be the only one that was outright in shock from the fact Lightning was inside an Eidolon's stomach. I drew by boomerblade and charged towards the Eidolon, ignoring Snow screaming for me.

But then I saw Leviathan's stomach arch. And a second too late I realized Lightning sliced Leviathan's stomach in half from the inside! Leviathan let out a cry and a burst of red light threw me back. I was about to fall to my doom when I saw Odin catch me. He set me back down to my feet, the air knocked out of me. Lightning staggered out of the lower half of Leviathan, covered in Chaos.

**General POV**

**Gran Pulse**

Morrigan screamed. It was coming. The baby was coming. And Yuna still had not come back to the shack. So what else could Morrigan do?

"Yuna!" She hollered as loud as she could. "**Ah**! **Yuna**!" She screamed long and loud.

Sure enough Yuna bursted back into the shack with Ruby. Vera was absent and Morrigan was actually glad for that. "The baby's here!" Morrigan told Yuna.

"Okay!" She told Morrigan. "Ruby, stay by Morrigan's side while I deliver the baby." Yuna said, ripped her jacket off.

Ruby circled around the bed and held Morrigan's hand, "Ow, girl, your breaking my hand."

"I don't give a damn about your hand. Ah!"

"Push, Morrigan!" Yuna told Morrigan.

Morrigan screamed, her bangs clinging onto Morrigan's sweaty forhead, her hair was down and loose, and dangling over her shoulders. Morrigan clenched her teeth and forced her baby out of her womb.

"Push!" Yuna commanded again.

"You can do it, Morrigan, you're almost there girl." Ruby coaxed Morrigan, brushing her bangs behind her ear so Morrigan could feel more comfortable.

"Ungh!" Morrigan's voice cracked as she got the final push in.

The sound of a baby's crying reached Morrigan's ears, Ruby let go of Morrigan's hand, and Yuna wrapped Urthemiel in Yuna's sheets. Yuna gazed into the baby's green yellow eyes. "She's a beauty, Morrigan."

"Ooh!" Ruby cooed.

"Let me hold her." Morrigan commanded Yuna.

Yuna helped Morrigan get in a better position so she can hold her new baby girl properly. Ruby leaned over Morrigan and played with the baby. "She is gorgous Morrigan. You did a great job."

"Come on, Ruby. Let's leave Morrigan alone with her baby." Yuna coaxed Ruby out of the shack leaving Morrigan gazing down at the child in her arms.

**Lightning's POV**

**Eden**

I collapsed at the Chaos that was layered over my body. Snow caught me and laid me down flat on the ground. My breathing was ragged, it was getting harder to push air in and out of my lungs due to the Chaos weighing me down. I could barely hear Snow and Sazh calling me and trying to stir me awake. I was falling into unconciousness. "_Hold on, Light..._" was the last thing I heard before I was out of touch of the world.

_My cheek was hot from laying down on the concrete. As well as my whole arm and my shoulder. I opened my eyes and realized I've been laying down in the front of my house. It was close to evening, by the way the sun was setting. I sat up and realized I was wearing a hot pink and purple tank top with black ripped jeans and purple sandals. I recalled owning clothing like this before Cocoon's Fall. The last time I wore it I couldn't recall._

_But Bodhum looked exactly like how I remembered it. No traces of Chaos or the Purge. The Vestige wasn't even visible from where I stood. I turned around and faced my home. I remembered everything that happened...with Chaos, Leviathan...am I in heaven? I climbed the steps up to my house and opened the door. "Serah?" I called out, feeling stupid. Would she even be here._

_I then heard somebody stir from inside my dad's study. "Serah?" I called out again. The lights were on so somebody was home. But Serah never goes into the study. Why would she now? I opened the door and my breath hitched into my throat._

_Familiar spiky platinum blonde hair, wearing a grayish blue plaid button up shirt and gray jeans. It was all too familiar. "Dad?" I whispered._

_My dad turned around, his icy blue eyes meeting mine and he smiled his usual simple smile. And like it always did, I found myself fighting my own smile. "Claire, you're home." He said like it was all normal. "I heard you calling for Serah earliar. I think she may still be out. If you want I could give her a quick ring and let her know you're home."_

_"Dad what are you doing here?" I found myself saying._

_"What do you mean 'what I'm doing here?' I __**live**__ here." He chuckled._

_"You're supposed to be dead." I told him. "And my home shouldn't be standing here. It was destroyed by Chaos."_

_He chuckled once more, then smiled a rather sad smile. "Good, you remember. I was afraid you were going to become trapped here."_

_"Dad, what are you talking about?"_

_He grabbed eighter side of my shoulders, I can actually feel his touch! "Claire, you've grown up. You don't need me anymore. You know what you have to do. You have to wake up."_

_This was a test? "But wait!" I said, grasping his hand._

_"Claire..." he pulled me into his embrace and my heart felt like it was going to burst out my mouth. "I am so proud of you. I've been watching over you and Serah. You make me very happy."_

_I couldn't fight it anymore. I fisted in his shirt, fighting back tears. He was really here, and I made him proud. He patted my head and I felt like a little girl again. My tears burned my eyes._

_My house began to set on fire, and burned around us as I cried into my father's arms. I then felt his prescence disapearing. I pulled away and he smiled back at me once last time before he was no longer there. I looked down at my hands and they were fading away too. My brand glowing within my chest. I looked up at Fang and Vanille, who have been watching me with all smiles._

I woke up, in a white hospital room from the looks of it. I was dressed in a clinical gown, and I tried to sit up, having been attached by a bunch of gadgets that were helping me while I slept. And sitting on the left side of my bed, head on my thigh, his hand still holding my left hand was Hope.

I almost jumped out of my skin when a short clumsy nurse barged into the room, with short purple hair. Hope stirred but didn't wake up. The nurse looked up at us embarassed. "Hello." She greeted. "I am your nurse, Eiko!"

"Aren't you kind of young to be a nurse?" I asked.

She puffed her cheeks out (probably thinks she looks cute doing it too) in anger. "Actually, I'm sixteen. Anywho, you are Lightning Farron, correct?" She danced towards the front of the bed and picked up my clipboard.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You're at the clinic. We woulda put ya in a hospital, you were pretty bad, but we were losing time with ya. You were this close to dyin'." She said, waving her arms about in a spazzy matter. "Oh right, you're report. Well, you clearly didn't die."

"Clearly." I said.

I heard Hope groan and he finally woke up.

"He hasn't left your side since we took you in. Isn't he a sweetie." Eiko cooed, pinching Hope's cheeks. Hope, obviously groggy from being rudely awakened by this obnoxious nurse swatted her hand away and leaned over me to check me over.

"How are you feeling, Light?" he asked, smiling.

I smiled back at him. "Much better."

Eiko clicked her tongue and set her clipboard down. "If you feel any better you're free to go." She told me quickly and skipped out the door, knocking into the doorway. "Whoops." she said. Then she disappeared around the way. Good riddance.

"I thought you were going to die." Hope admitted, brushing strands from my eyes. "You had me worried when..."

I took his hand into mine. "I'm fine, Hope." I reassured him.

"Chaos...is really gone, Light. Cocoon's safe. Mostly battered, but you know how the laborers work so fast. Progress is coming along in Eden. They are almost getting started on PalumPolum."

"That's great." I told him, "where are my clothes." I said, throwing the blankets off of me as Hope helped me disconnect everything. "And where is everybody at?"

"EdenHall." Hope explained to me. "Your clothes are on the chair over there." He told me, pointing towards the bathroom, where my clothes were neatly folded, probably having been washed and tended to. Everybody works so fast it amazes me. Or maybe it seems fast because I've been unconcious for Maker knows how long. "I'll call Larsa to come pick us up while you get ready."

"Thank you, Hope." I told him. He was about to walk out the door but then stopped. He then scurried to my side and quickly and swiftly kissed me on the cheek, close to the corner of my mouth then ran off, probably blushing. I could only smile as I touched the spot where his lips touched.

After Larsa came in his car to escort us back to EdenHall, I was surprised by all the fans that were waiting outside the clinic. At first I had thought they were for Larsa, but he wasn't the only person everyone wanted to see.

"Lightning over here!"

"She's okay!"

"Lightning, what was it like to being inside of an Eidolon?" How did they even know that?

"This way, Miss Farron." Larsa told me and Hope and I squeezed past all the publicity and into the car. I watched as people were practically bombarding the car just to see us.

"They...like us?" I asked.

Larsa snorted. "That's a bit of an understatement I think." He told me.

"They love us." Hope explained. "After we defeated Chaos, we've gained...fans."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or bad." I admitted.

Larsa laughed once more. "Indeed."

We pulled up in front of EdenHall and there were even more people crowded around there. I really hoped this wasn't something I had to get used to. The guards let us three in while the crazy fans were trying to wedge themselves into the Hall.

Everyone was there. Dressed nicely while I was just wearing my turtleneck and battle pants. I felt underdressed. Snow and Sazh were standing closest to the entrance, dressed up as well as Dajh who was on his father's shoulders. He reached his hand out and I grabbed it making the boy smile. "Lightning, you're okay." he said.

Bartholomew patted Hope's shoulder and ruffled his hair. And then Serah. Wearing a gray halter dress, that was glittery and flailing all the way to the ground. I couldn't even see her feet. The two fronts of her long curly hair were in braids, wrapped around her crown, and pinned in a bun. She wore dark eye make up, and lipgloss. Her eyes twinkled with tears when she saw me and she wrapped her arms around me. "I missed you, Claire." She whispered.

"I missed you too." I replied, holding my baby sister in my arms.

_**End...?**_


End file.
